Yugioh! Pro League Circuit!
by Teh Sheep
Summary: The Duel Monsters pro league is being devastated by a group of 9 incredible duelists, whos presence threatens to bring about the end of the game itself. Set in a post-GX pre-5D's era, all OCs CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION. MORE INFO INSIDE
1. Editing

Hello reader, thank you for giving Pro League Circuit a read!

Currently the story is under construction. Ive been working on this story since... Id say 08/09. Some of my earlier chapters were not of the best quality, and are in desperate need of touching up/editing. Im currently doing a huge overhaul in editing to show people what more of my later chapters are like, and get people more interested in reading more.

Currently Im up to chapter 21. I originally put my story up on , but I decided to move it to to get more feedback. All current chapters and future chapters will have wikilinks for cards listed in them, and chapter notes at the end. Everything will be structured in a more organized way as well. Please bear with me as I get all of this stuff sorted out, I really want to create an exciting story that everyone can enjoy, and I hope everyone will give my fic a shot when Im done with these corrections

Thank you, Teh Sheep


	2. The Gate is Closed

Pro League Circuit!

Chapter 5: The Gate is Closed

Despite the fact that Lua had decided to join Mr. Mutock's group at the last minute, it was relatively easy to arrange for her to travel with all of them. Mr. Mutock had already purchased 5 tickets for them all (which he failed to mention to Inigo) and used what he called "connections" to get Lua a passport.

Inigo and Lua stopped at her house before returning to the hotel to gather what she needed to travel. Even though the houses in the area were small, modest, 1 floor buildings, Lua's was quite extravagant. Her house was 3 stories high, and had a basement. It didn't attract much attention though, as it was 2 miles out of town, and the only road leading to it was a 1 way dirt road. It took the two awhile to walk there and back, but they made it back to the hotel in time to leave with everyone.

Mr. Mutock was overjoyed to see that Lua had returned with Inigo. He spent the entire drive to the airport going into more detail about his plan, and what would be asked of her throughout the process.

Soutou was driving this time, with Mr. Mutock, Chima, and Lua sitting in the back. He looked over at Inigo, who was sound asleep. Seems like he took my advice on accepting responsibility for what happens to people involved. That's why he's laying down the rules to Lua again.

After the long drive to the airport, Soutou wasn't looking forward to the long flight back to Japan. I guess we don't have much choice but to rush things though. Were still short 6 members, and the Fortune Cup tournament is only a month away.

Inigo had woken up just before pulling into the airport parking lot. "So, where're we headed Mr. Mutock?" He asked as got out of the car and leaned against the car door. "Were taking a plane to New York. From there were going to change flights and go to England, and from there Italy." Soutou stopped taking bags out of the trunk. "What!"

Soutou dropped the bags. "Mr. Mutock, you told me yesterday that we were going to go back to Japan! Why are we now suddenly going to England and Italy?" Inigo walked to the trunk and pulled his bag out. "Well, we were going to go back to Japan to meet one of my friends, but when I explained to her the time situation, she was more then happy to meet us here."

Inigo dropped his bag in front of Soutou. "I'm injured, carry this for me." Soutou growled and picked up his bag. Even after all of that he's still being a jackass. I should- Soutou's thoughts were interrupted by Lua. "Seems he's still working on his transition. Give it time, he'll sharpen up." She grabbed her bags and followed Inigo. Soutou sighed and did the same, with Mr. Mutock and Chima following him.

"So who's your friend Mr. Mutock?" Lua asked. "She's from the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office in Japan." Inigo and Lua stopped and stared at Mr. Mutock for a second. "What the hell is that?" Inigo blurted out. "Ahh, right. Of coarse. Soutou-kun is the only one here that's from Japan. Consider it the equivalent of the United State's CIA."

"A secret agent? She must be pretty damn tough." Lua said with a grin. "Does she duel?" Mr. Mutock nodded. "Yes, she's quite the capable duelist. She's been undercover in the Pro League for quite some time now. The Research Office believes that there's some foul play going on regarding the U9 and Pro League regulations. She's very important in helping our cause."

"So why isn't she still doing that?" Lua asked. "Well, recently she was defeated by one of the U9.…. It was a very important duel, the first one in awhile in which a challenger to a member of the U9 had a greater chance at winning. She had a 79% chance according to the statistics. A lot of money went into that duel and, well….the Cabinet decided that she should lay low for awhile."

"Whats her name?" Soutou said. "I'll let her introduce herself. You all probably know her as Brittany Pinkella, her Pro League alias." Lua growled angrily. "I've seen her before. She's a disgrace to women everywhere! Prancing around with that happy, bubbly attitude, acting like an innocent little girl. Its so disgraceful! She's the reason people today still see women as little defenseless crybabies."

Inigo was about to open his mouth to insult Lua about doing the exact same thing, but thought better of it. "Yes, well, an alias is only skin deep." Mr. Mutock said nervously. "Lua-chan, please do not address her like that when we meet her…"

"What the hell is taking so long?" Inigo asked angrily. "Well, we were 30 minutes early…." Mr. Mutock said quietly. "Shut up Inigo, we've only been here for 15 minutes." Lua said. "To be fair, you were just wondering the same thing 5 minutes ago Lua." Soutou said.

"I was just wondering though, I wasn't angry about it." Lua countered. "Both of you shut up. I hate flying, its boring. In an hour we'll be sitting in a chair for the next day at least. If you want to blame me for not wanting to waste time that could be spent doing something sitting around, then I'll-"

"Ah, there she is!" Mr. Mutock interrupted. He stood up and waved. Everyone stood up as well and turned to see who he was waving to. They saw a woman with dark black hair dressed in a white button up shirt with a black jacket and black skirt. Her hair was tied in a ponytail that hung down to her shoulders. She smiled happily and waved back to Mr. Mutock. Soutou got out of his chair and held a hand out to her as she approached.

"Hello, I'm-UGWA!" The woman had reached forward and grabbed his hand as though she were going to shake it, only to pull it forward and spin it, causing Soutou to fly off his feet and flip through the air. He hit the ground hard on his stomach. "What in the-!" He was cut off again as she lifted him up and pulled his arms behind his back. She pulled out a pair of handcuffs and put them on his wrists.

"Soutou Kougi, you are under arrest for leaving the country of Japan while involved in an ongoing investigation and trial involving the murder of Touzoku Kusemono. I'll be taking you on the next flight back to Japan, where you will be imprisoned until the day of your trial."

"Oh my….." Mr. Mutock mumbled. "I was afraid something like this would happen…" "And you didn't say anything!" Soutou yelled angrily. "Kawari-san, could you please release Soutou-kun, at least until after we've had our talk?" Kawari looked back at Mr. Mutock. "Ahh, right. I'm sorry Mr. Mutock. You know how it is. An old habit."

Kawari removed the handcuffs from Soutou and sat down with the group. "Whats an old habit, arresting random people?" Soutou asked as he too took his seat. "No, arresting criminals." Soutou glared at Kawari. "I'm no criminal, though I'm not surprised. The Cabinet is pretty well known for idio-"

"Everyone, this is my friend Kawari Kikou!" Mr. Mutock said, cutting Soutou off. Kawari smiled and held her hand out to Soutou, Chima, and Lua. "It's nice to meet you all." She stopped at Soutou, who offered her no hand. "I think our rendezvous earlier was enough of an introduction."

Inigo nudged Soutou in the side. "Seems like your pretty easy to take down." He whispered. "Do you get the crap kicked out of you by everyone? I mean, who's next? Chima?" Soutou took a deep breath and swallowed his rage. "If you weren't injured I'd beat the crap out of you right now."

"So Mr. Mutock's already filled me in on the details to his plan." Kawari said. "And I must say I wholeheartedly approve. I love working for the cabinet, but I hated being Brittany. The Cabinet wouldn't even let me use my own deck." Kawari rolled her eyes. "Ugh, it was so annoying." Lua's eyes lit up. "Then, your not some peppy little brat?"

Kawari laughed. "No no, I'm a thousand times tougher then my alias. That's what gets me pissed. I know I could've beaten that ******* if I had just been allowed to use my own deck. But of coarse, the cabinet's got its rules, and we have to follow. No matter how stupid."

"Rules keep things in order." Soutou interrupted. "So that people with authority aren't allowed to bumble around like idiots doing as they please." Kawari shot Soutou a look and opened her mouth to respond when Mr. Mutock started speaking again.

"Well Kawari, I would appreciate it if you could brief everyone on what you've learned up to this point!" Kawari's expression disappeared, and she smiled sweetly at Mr. Mutock. "I'd be happy to Mr. Mutock. When I first-"

Kawari was cut off by a loud explosion. They all jumped out of their seats and turned to see that the coffee shop they had been sitting in front of had exploded. People in the terminal were running from the wreckage and screaming. Kawari ran over to the wreckage and pulled a struggling employee from the wreckage.

"Get away from there!" Soutou yelled. "If some of the machinery exploded, it could go off again!" Kawari helped the struggling employee over to the group when the shop exploded again. Soutou helped the man into a chair. "That's not it." She said as she opened her briefcase. "The back end of the shops blown in entirely. If it were machinery, there wouldn't be a giant hole in one side.

Soutou and the others watched as she loaded a deck into her duel disk. "Then what was it?" Lua asked. "A psychic duelist." She replied solemnly. Chima gasped. "Wh-what do you mean?" She stuttered, speaking for the first time since they arrived at the airport.

"I noticed him on the plane. Rokotsu Kado, he was well known for being a member of the Arcadia movement back when it was active. He was just released a few months ago." Kawari activated her duel disk and slowly started walking forward.

"How do you know that?" Soutou asked. "All you know is that the shop blew up, you can't just make decisions like that! Your jumping to conclusions!" Kawari stopped and held up a finger, signaling for everyone to remain silent. Suddenly a giant fireball shot down at her from above. She dove out of the way and threw three cards at the top of the now burning shop.

Everyone gasped as the cards collided with a duel disk and glanced off. The owner of the duel disk still held it there, covering his face. He wore a sleeveless leather jacket with pieces of metal embedded in it like buttons, and green pants. He slowly lowered the duel disk and revealed his face. He was a bald man with shapeless black tattoos covering his hairless head. His skin was pale as bone, he smiled with delight, and his eyes were filled with what could only be described as insanity.

"Still a good shot Kikou." He said as he hopped down from the burning shop. Kawari's eyes narrowed. "Rokotsu, I didn't expect to see you again. I thought that maybe your time in prison would've taught you better then to come after me again. Or do you miss your prison life?"

Rokotsu's grin disappeared. "I aint going back to that hell again Kawari. I got orders to get rid of you. I be following through with them so I can have my payment. ThenI can live the good life! Good life that you stopped me from havin! I be angry, Kawari. I aint wastin no time dueling you again. I just gonna use my powers and blow you away. I be angry, Kawari. You knows how I get when I be angry!"

Kawari looked over at everyone. "Stand back!" She yelled to them. She raised her duel disk just below her chin. "Can't beat me in a fair fight Rokotsu? Is that why your gonna try and use your psychic powers to finish me off?" Rokotsu's face twisted with rage. "DON'T TRY AND TRICKS ME! I GOT ORDERS!" He yelled, foam forming at the corners of his mouth. "You know you can't touch me Rokotsu, so why're you coming after me? Looking to get sent back to jail, huh? Did you find yourself a boyfriend in the slammer?"

Rokotsu got even angrier. "I'm gonna shut you up. IM GONNA KILL YOU!" Rokotsu prepared to insert another card into his duel disk. "Your powers aren't going to work on me Rokotsu. There's only one way to shut me up. You know what it is." Kawari drew 5 cards from her deck. Rokotsu looked from his duel disk to Kawari. He appeared to be struggling with a decision for a minute before drawing 5 cards aswell.

"Its you last duel, I let you go first." Rokotsu said happily." Kawari smiled. "You should've gone first Rokotsu, since this will be your last duel ever. I summon Flame Dragon (Attack: 1200) in attack position! Then I'll activate my spell, Polar Opposite! This card allows me to search my deck for my Frost Dragon and add it to my hand! Then I'll play a facedown and end my turn."

Rokotsu laughed. "This wont be my last duel Kawari. Nope, no, nope. I aint going back to that place. I activate my spell, Exit Gate!" From behind Rokotsu a giant gate arose. It was green, with large pieces of wood running around the outside. Green vines and leaves covered the entire front surface of the gate.

"With this card, I can add Green Guardian - Embust from my deck to my hand! Then I'll summon him in attack position!" (Attack: 1000). "Next I'll play a facedown card. Go ahead Kawari, take your turn! Make it count though, right? Otherwise you'll lose! You know that! Don't get the edge on me from the start and you lose!"

Kawari maintained her composure, despite Rokotsu's mad ranting. "My turn, draw. I'll activate my facedown card, Corrosion of Earth. During my standbye phase it gets a counter. Then I summon my Frost Dragon in attack position (Atk: 1000)."

Already several police officers and citizens had arrived at the scene. "This is bad, this duel is attracting a ton of attention. What's worse is if the police get involved-" Soutou was cut off by a loud megaphone.

"ATTENTION DUELISTS! PLEASE LOWER YOUR DISKS AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" Rokotsu let out a roar. "I KNEW IT! KNEW I SHOULD HAVE USED MY POWERS TO KILL YOU! Wasting time…. I HAVE ORDERS!" Kawari gritted her teeth. She reached inside her coat pocket and pulled out a badge. "I'm agent Kawari, I have the situation under control!"

"Airport incidents are tricky. Since there's so many people from different nations here, its considered to be an issue of national security when there are attacks here." Mr. Mutock explained. The group of five slowly began backing away from the area as more and more people began crowding around.

"WE RECOGNIZE YOUR POSITION OF AUTHORITY MA'M, BUT PLEASE BACK AWAY SO THAT WE CAN APPREHEND THE CRIMINAL." Men dressed in bulletproof vests and masks entered the scene with guns raised. Rokotsu let out a roar. "I cant! This man is a psychic duelist! He's also highly unstable! Please escort the civilians and all armed personnel away from this area!" Kawari yelled

The man on the loudspeaker turned to someone next to him. They conversed for a minute before he began speaking again. "AFFIRMATIVE, YOU HAVE 30 MINUTES TO FINISH THIS DUEL."

Kawari smiled and let out a sigh of relief as police officers began moving the civilians back away from the duel. Rokotsu began rapidly looking around. "Oi, Rokotsu. Over here." Kawari said. Rokotsu turned to look at her. "Things have turned in your favor. Ive only got 30 minutes to beat you. After that you get to bust out of here and go free."

Rokotsu laughed. "Telling me to stall? I wont! I'm gonna beat you to death with my deck and walk out of here scoff free!" Kawari's smile disappeared "Since I'm on a time limit I'm going to stop wasting time. Frost Dragon, attack his Embust! Icicle Rain!"

[i] If we keep out distance from over here we shouldn't have any problems. After all, Rokotsu is the only one with psychic powers, we should only have to worry on his turn. [i] Soutou thought. But still, with the way Kawari is controlling him we might not have to worry at all. She's been able to manipulate his every move into doing exactly what she wants. Soutou watched as Rokotsu revealed The Big March of Animals.

"This will give Embust 200 extra attack points!" (Atk: 1200). "Embust, counter it!" Embust threw up its arms and blocked the rain of icicles. He then raised his staff and pointed it at Frost Dragon. He let out a beam of green light and destroyed it. The dragon shattered into large chunks of ice. The ray of light continued and blasted into Kawari's shoulder. She lifted a hand and clutched her shoulder.

Kawari's life points: 3800

Rokotsu's life points: 4000

Still, we have no idea what Rokotsu's deck is packing. If he has any really dangerous cards in there, this could get ugly. Kawari seems like she's in a lot of pain from that attack…. I guess all we can do is trust that she knows what she's doing.

"The effect of Frost Dragon now activates! I can special summon another one from my deck to the field in defense position!" (Defense: 1200) The chunks of ice reformed, creating another Frost Dragon in defense. "Flame Dragon, attack Embust! Flame Stream!" The flaming red dragon opened its mouth and let out a concentrated jet of flame. Embust Raised its staff and a green barrier appeared around it, reflecting the flame back at Flame Dragon and destroying it.

"What!" Inigo yelled as Flame Dragon was reduced to a pile of ash. "They both have the same attack points, Embust should have been destroyed!" Rokotsu laughed. "Embust has a special effect that lets him not be destroyed once per turn! Both of your attacks have failed, Kawari!"

Kawari grinned. "Do you think so?" The ashes of Flame Dragon ignited, and rose again in the form of Flame Dragon. "Wh-what? I just destroyed him though!" Kawari laughed. "That's right, I didn't use Flame Dragon against you last time we dueled. I just assumed that by this point you would catch on. When Flame Dragon is destroyed, I get another one from my deck. Flame Dragon, attack Embust! Flame Stream!"

Flame Dragon let out another jet of fire at Embust. Embust fired back with a flash of green light. Both attacks connected, destroying both monsters. The ashes of Flame Dragon once again ignited, reforming into another Flame Dragon. "Flame Dragon, direct attack! Flame Stream!"

Lua cheered. "Finally she's going to do some damage!" Rokotsu began laughing madly. "I activate my trap card, Guarding Wall!" Rokotsu's Exit Gate suddenly vanished, only to re-appear in front of him to block Flame Dragon's attack. "When I have a card with "Gate" in its name on my side of the field, I can reduce battle damage to 0!" Kawari remained unfazed by his move. "I end my turn."

"Its my turn, draw!" Suddenly a shadowy image of Embust appeared in front of the Gate. He jammed his staff into the keyhole in the center of the gate and turned it. The gate began to open and blue light shot out of it. Embust vanished and the gate opened.

"During my standbye phase, Exit Gate will activate Trial Gate from my deck, and add "Shell Guardian - Savan" from my deck to my hand!" A blue light flew out of the gate and into Rokotsu's hand. The gate then shut itself and disappeared. In its place sat a red, Chinese gate with a brown roof to it.

"Now I'll summon Shell Guardian - Savan in attack position!" (Attack: 1200). Kawari frowned. "I see that your proceeding right along with your Guardian monsters." Rokotsu laughed. "That's right! And I've only got 2 more gates until I finish you off! Savan, attack her Flame Dragon! Pincer Spear!" The odd sea creature raised its staff, and the crab claw at the end of it opened. Savan began charging forward at Flame Dragon.

"Kawari looks nervous, but both monsters have the same attack. Is it because this is her last Flame Dragon? Or does Savan have an effect to stop it from being destroyed, like Embust did?" Lua asked. Mr. Mutock shook his head. "Although Savan has a similar effect that prevents it from being destroyed, it has another effect that increases its attack by half its defense when it attacks. With a defense of 1600, his attack will increase to 2000 when attacking."

Savan's spear collided with Flame Dragon and destroyed it. Kawari threw up her arms as the explosion nearly knocked her off her feet. "When Flame Dragon is destroyed and there are 3 other Flame Dragons in my graveyard, I can select a monster and add it from my deck to my hand."

Kawari's Life points: 3000

Rokotsu's life points: 4000

"Ill end my turn at that." Kawari drew a card from her deck. "Something wrong Kawari? Scared? You scared? You should be scared! I've got the lead, and your on a time limit! Win in 27 minutes or I escape! Or if you lose, then you die and I escape! You can't win!"

"I don't have time to chat it up with you Rokotsu. I'm on a deadline." I have to stop you before you unlock all 5 gates. "I activate my spell card, Fire Back! By discarding Fox Fire from my hand to the graveyard, I can re-summon my Flame Dragon!"

"Whats she getting at? Savan has the same effect as Embust, and she doesn't have any more Flame Dragons in her deck! It'll take more then one Flame Dragon to take him down!" Inigo yelled.

"I switch Frost Dragon to attack position, and then I summon Sand Fiend in attack!" (Attack: 1000). Rokotsu smiled. "I remember him. But he cant stand up to Savan! You have to attack Savan 3 times before destroying him!"

"Did you forget about Corrosion of Earth Rokotsu?" The color left Rokotsu's face for a second. "Its been face up on my field for 2 standbye phases! That means that I can now send it to the grave to decrease your Savan's attack by 1000 points!"

A tremor shot out of Kawari's trap and began shaking the ground underneath Savan. "S-Shell Guardian - Savan's effect will activate! I can switch him to defense to negate your trap card and destroy it! Defense to 0 for the rest of the turn!" (Defense: 0)

Savan dropped to a knee and the shaking stopped. "I already knew that you would use Savan's effect Rokotsu! I play Clash of the Elements! Whenever a monster on my side of the field attacks one of your monsters with a different attribute then my attacking monster, my monster does piercing! Now, Sand Fiend, attack! Sand Burial!" The mass of sand shifted and lifted two massive arms that came crashing down on Savan. Savan withstood the attack.

Kawari's Life Points: 3000

Rokotsu's Life Points: 3000

"Flame Dragon, attack! Flame Stream!" Savan once again with stood the attack from Flame Dragon.

Kawari's Life Points: 3000

Rokotsu's Life Points: 1800

"Finish him, Frost Dragon! Icicle Rain!" Savan tried to hold off the spray of icicles before shattering. "Unfortunately Frost Dragon and Savan are both water type monsters, so no piercing damage is dealt to your life points. Turn end." Kawari declared.

"You should know by now that when you defeat a Guardian monster I can summon a stronger one, Kawari!" Savan appeared from the graveyard and unlocked his gate. "Trial Gate adds Speed Guardian - Ferrario to my hand, and activates Spell Gate from my deck!" The red gate disappeared, and was replaced with a yellow one with a large piece of metal for its door.

"I summon Speed Guardian - Ferrario in attack position! (Attack: 1100 Then I'll equip him with my equip spell, Megamorph! This will double his attack while my life points are lower then yours! Also, Ferrario's effect doubles his original attack when either of us play a spell!" (Attack: 3300)

Mr. Mutock frowned. "My my, this doesn't look good…" "Grrr" Kawari growled. "Ferrario, attack her Frost Dragon! Speed Breaker!" Ferrario blasted forward at Frost Dragon with an arm outstretched towards it. Suddenly a giant pole with a spear on the end of it shot out of his wrist and impaled Frost Dragon. Ferrario continued forward and nicked Kawari's side with its spear.

Kawari's Life Points: 700

Rokotsu's Life Points: 1800

"Now that my life points are lower then yours, Ferrario's attack gets halved!" (Attack: 1650) However, Ferrario has a special effect! If he destroyed a monster on your side of the field, by changing the position of another monster on your side of the field, he can attack that monster!"

"I remember Ferrario very well Rokotsu. I hate to say it, but he's the perfect counter to my monsters, who special summon themselves from the deck. I'll choose not to activate the effect of Frost Dragon." Rokotsu laughed madly. "Ill switch your Sand Fiend to defense and attack it!"

Kawari was just barely able to dodge Ferrario's spear this time. Its seems to have slowed down now that its attack is lower. She thought to herself as she clutched her side. "Ferrario, finish off her Flame Dragon!" Ferrario didn't attempt t attack Kawari this time, but the explosion from Flame Dragon being destroyed knocked her backwards.

"Damn, this guys unbelievably strong! His psychic powers are beyond any level I've ever seen before!" Soutou exclaimed. Rokotsu calmed down as Ferrario returned to his field. "Gonna be this easy? Is it? Is it Kawari? Scared to fight, Kawari? Only got 16 minutes left, Kawari. DO SOMETHING, KAWARI!" Rokotsu began laughing again. "Two cards facedown, turn end! Now Ferrario's increase ends, and he drops down to 550 attack!"

Kawari slowly rose to her feet. "Kawari's not going to be able to take any more hits like that. The next one wont nick her side. The next one'll be aimed at her stomach or head." Lua noted. Kawari glared at Rokotsu as he continued to laugh.

"She does seem to be bleeding very badly." Soutou noted with little emotion. "Lets hope she doesn't get killed and let this guy walk." Lua turned to Soutou with a look of disbelief on her face. "What're you saying! She could die against this psychopath!" She yelled.

"Kawari made the decision to duel him, knowing that he's a psychic duelist. She got herself into this mess, her injuries are her problem. And I'll be damned if she loses and lets a murdering criminal escape." Soutou glanced at Kawari's wound. "But your right. She can't take any more hits like that. If she does…. She'll definitely die."

This weeks custom cards:

Flame Dragon

Fire/Pyro/Level 4/Effect/ Attack: 1200/ Defense 1000

When this monster is destroyed as a result of battle, special summon 1 "Flame Dragon" from your deck in face up attack position. When this monster is destroyed as a result of battle and there are 2 more "Flame Dragon"s in your graveyard, add 1 "Frost and Flame Dragon" from your deck to your hand.

Polar Opposite

[Quick-Play Spell]

Activate this card when you summon a monster. Select and activate 1 of the following effects according to the attribute of that monster

Dark: Select 1 LIGHT type monster from your deck and add it to your hand

Earth: Select 1 WIND type monster from your deck and add it to your hand

Fire: Select 1 WATER type monster from your deck and add it to your hand

Light: Select 1 DARK type monster from your deck and add it to your hand

Water: Select 1 FIRE type monster from your deck and add it to your hand

Wind: Select 1 EARTH type monster from your deck and add it to your hand

Exit Gate

[Continuous Spell]

As long as "Green Guardian - Embust" is face up on your side of the field, this card cannot be destroyed by card effects. Add 1 "Green Guardian - Embust" from your deckt o your hand when you activate this card. During your standbye phase, when you have a "Green Guardian - Embust" in your graveyard, you can select 1 "Trial Gate" from your deck and activate it in an open spell/trap card zone. You can then add 1 "Shell Guardian - Savan" from your deck to your hand.

Green Guardian - Embust

Earth/Level 1/Beast/Effect/Attack: 1000/Defense: 1400

This monster can only be normal summoned while there is a face up "Exit Gate" on your side of the field. Once per turn, this monster cannot be destroyed as a result of battle. While this monster remains face up on the field, your opponent cannot activate or set more then 3 cards a turn.

Guarding Wall

[Normal Trap]

When a "Guardian" monster on your side of the field is destroyed in battle, you can activate this card. Reduce all damage to your life points to 0 until the end of the turn.

Frost Dragon

Water/Aqua/Level 4/ Effect/ Attack: 1000/Defense: 1200

When this monster is destroyed as a result of battle, special summon 1 "Frost Dragon" from your deck in face up defense position. When this monster is destroyed as a result of battle and there are 2 more "Frost Dragon"s in your graveyard, add 1 "Frost and Flame Dragon" from your deck to your hand.

Trial Gate

[Continuous Spell]

As long as "Shell Guardian - Savan" remains face up on your side of the field, this card cannot be destroyed by card effects. During your standbye phase, when you have a "Shell Guardian - Savan" in your graveyard, you can select 1 "Spell Gate" from your deck and activate it in an open spell/trap zone. You can then add 1 "Speed Guardian - Ferrario" from your deck to your hand.

Shell Guardian - Savan

Water/Level 2/Sea Serpent/Effect/Attack: 1200/Defense: 1600

This monster cannot be normal summoned unless there is a "Trail Gate" face up on your side of the field. This monster cannot be destroyed by battle twice per turn. Once per turn, you can increase the attack of this monster by half its defense. You can switch this monster to defense position and make its defense 0 in order to negate the activation or effect of an opponents trap card and destroy it.

Clash of the Elements

[Normal Spell]

When a monster on your side of the field attacks an opponents monster with a different attribute then your attacking monster, your monster does piercing damage. This effect lasts until the end phase of your turn.

Sand Fiend

Earth/Zombie/Level 4/ Attack: 1000/Defense: 1200

When this monster is destroyed as a result of battle, special summon 1 "Sand Fiend" from your deck in face up defense position. When this monster is destroyed as a result of battle and there are 2 more "Sand Fiend"s in your graveyard, add 1 "Desert Twister" from your deck to your hand.

Spell Gate

[Continuous Spell]

As long as "Speed Guardian - Ferrario" remains face up on your side of the field, this card cannot be destroyed by card effects. During your standbye phase, when you have a "Speed Guardian - Ferrario" in your graveyard, you can select 1 "Dual Darkness Gate" from your deck and activate it in an open spell/trap zone. You can then add 1 "Underworld Guardian - Moley" and 1 "Dark World Guardian - Gigori" from your deck to your hand.

Speed Guardian - Ferrario

Wind/Level 3/Machine/Effect/Attack: 1100/Defense: 500

This monster cannot be normal summoned unless there is a "Spell Gate" face up on your side of the field. Twice per turn when you or your opponent activates a spell card, double this monster's attack. When this monster destroys a monster as a result of battle, you can change the position of an opponents monster and have Speed Guardian - Ferrario attack that monster.

Notes

I know, I know. Its a little fast paced, and probably really confusing. Next chapter will probably be the same, but after that everything will be fully explained.

I believe that Corrosion of Earth's effect is wrong on wikipedia, its effect is different in a very accurate online duel game...

Rokotsu's Guardian monsters are based off of the guardians and their gates in the DS game World Championship 2008. I had images, but there was a problem and now I have to get them again. Please bear with the lack of descriptions/images of them for now ^_^


	3. The Gate is Open

Pro League Circuit! Chapter 6

The Gate is Open

"Its your turn, lets go already!" Rokotsu yelled. "My turn, draw!" Kawari snapped a card off the top of her deck and eyed it over. "Rokotsu, your Guardian monsters are powerful. But you've been so consumed with their own abilities and powers that you've failed to pay attention to any of mine. I've finished preparing everything at this point. Now you get to see my strongest monster."

Mr. Mutock laughed. "Its true! Kawari now has enough monsters in the graveyard to summon her strongest monster!" Lua gasped. "I wonder what monster it could be? I remember her pro league deck focused on really girly monsters. Her ace monster back then was Guardian Angel Joan. But now her decks entirely different. Mr. Mutock, what could she be summoning?" Mr. Mutock pointed at the field.

"I remove 2 Frost Dragons and 1 Flame Dragon in my graveyard from the game to special summon my Frost and Flame Dragon !" Ice and fire erupted from Kawari's field, obscuring Rokotsu's vision as she placed the monster on her duel disk. He threw up his arms and braced himself as cold and hot winds whipped around the field.

When the fire and ice died down, the source was revealed. A two headed dragon sat on Kawari's field, one made of fire, and the other of ice. The fire and ice erupting from their mouths died down as they closed them.

Rokotsu looked up at the field. "Wha-What is it! That thing, you didn't use it last time!" Rokotsu stuttered. Lua gasped. "Frost and Flame Dragon is an incredibly rare card. I've only seen a few people that have it, and none of them have actually been able to use it."

"Then I activate Spirit's Final Intervention! This card lets me draw a card from my deck for each monster that was removed from play this turn! I'll draw 3 cards!" Kawari declared as she drew 3 cards from her deck. "Now, I activate the effect of Frost and Flame Dragon! By discarding 1 card from my hand, I can destroy a monster on the field!"

Inigo grinned. "Heh, with only 1800 life points left and no monsters on the field, that *******'s finished if he takes the direct attack of Frost and Flame Dragon."

"I'll discard Element Return to destroy Ferrario! Go, Frost and Flame Dragon! Freeze-Fire Blast!" The ice head of Frost and Flame Dragon opened its mouth and roared, letting out a wave of icy breath at Ferrario. The breath enveloped him until he was frozen solid. The fire head then opened its mouth and shot a fireball at the frozen Ferrario. Rokotsu jumped backwards as his monster melted into a puddle of water.

"I activate my facedown card, Guarding Spirits! When a Guardian monster on my field is destroyed, I can reduce all battle damage to 0 during this turn. Then during the end phase we can each draw a card for each Guardian monster destroyed this turn."

Kawari's graveyard suddenly began glowing. "Element Return's effect will activate. When its discarded from my hand to the graveyard by the effect of Frost and Flame Dragon, I can pay 300 life points to return it to my hand."

Kawari's Life points: 400

Rokotsu's Life points: 1800

Red, blue, yellow, and green light exploded from Kawari's graveyard as she pulled Element Return from it. "I'll place two cards facedown. Turn end." Kawari and Rokotsu both drew a card from their decks due to the effect of Guarding Spirits.

"11 minutes left." Rokotsu said as he drew a card from his deck. "Time almost up, Kawari! You keep activating gate after gate after gate after gate! Keep going deeper and deeper into my world! Deeper in, more chance of people getting hurt, Kawari!"

Kawari nodded. "That's right. You've only got 1 more gate left, right? I've never seen your final gate before. Why don't you show it to me before I'm forced to end this duel?"

"With pleasure." Ferrario appeared from Rokotsu's graveyard and used his spear to begin prying the gate open. "I'll add Underworld Guardian - Moley and Dark World Guardian - Gigori from my deck to my hand! I'll also activate my fourth gate, Dual Darkness Gate!" As the steel yellow gate vanished, it was replaced by one made of black stone. The gate was covered in carvings of fiends and zombies.

The more gates he activates the more people get hurt! Doesn't Kawari realize that? If she would have just left his Embust on the field and waited for some spell and trap destruction she could have put an end to his entire combo! Damnit, what the hell is she doing! "Kawari!" Soutou yelled. "What the hell do you think your doing activating his gates like that! If you let him use his final gate, people will get hurt!"

Kawari turned to look at Soutou. His face was filled with rage. She gave him a wink. "Don't worry about it, this guys not going to hurt anybody." Soutou growled. "You-!"

He felt someone put a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Mr. Mutock standing next to him. "So you haven't noticed yet?" He asked Soutou. Soutou gave him a puzzled look. "Noticed what?" Mr. Mutock laughed. "Kawari has been manipulating Rokotsu this entire duel. She's always been like that. Very smart, very good at understanding people and their strength's and weaknesses. Knowing how they'll react. These are all things that a special agent must have."

"She knows that Rokotsu will use his psychic powers to escape if she can't beat him in a duel. She taunted him until he would duel, and now she's praising him. Why do you think that is?" Soutou looked over at Kawari, and then at Rokotsu.

Of coarse! Rokotsu hates opposition. At first she kept on egging him on so that he would continue the duel. Now she's praising his every move to calm him down! A psychic duelist's powers gain strength depending on how angry the person is. Now that he's calmed down, his powers are probably almost unnoticeable! This way even if she doesn't win the duel in the next 10 minutes, he wont be able to use his powers to escape!

"Now, COME ON, Underworld Guardian - Moley!" (Attack: 1600) Rokotsu yelled, laughing as his monster appeared on the field. "When I have Moley on the field, I can special summon Dark World Guardian - Gigori from my hand!" (Defense: 1700)

"You know Moley's effect, huh Kawari!" Kawari nodded. "Another perfect counter to my deck. When he attacks, he gains attack equal to Gigori's attack. That will put him at 2400, 100 more then Frost and Flame Twin Dragon."

Rokotsu pointed at Moley. "Moley, attack her Frost and Flame Twin Dragon! Death Grapple!" Gigori took two chainsaw blades off of his back and gave them to Moley, who attached them to a chain. He began spinning them like nunchuks and charged at Frost and Flame Dragon.

"I activate my trap, Windstorm of Etaqua !" Powerful winds began blasting at Rokotsu and his monsters from Kawari's trap. "Windstorm of Etaqua will change the battle positions of all your face up monsters. Which means Moley is switched to defense position, and Gigori is switched to attack!" (Defense: 700) (Attack: 800)

Rokotsu appeared unphased by Kawari's move. "Such a shrewd trick. One facedown, take turn and lose!" Normally angry about such shrewd trick, but now Moley and Gigori get destroyed! When destroyed, I can bring out strongest guardian! Kawari wasting all her protection now! Rokotsu giggled as Kawari drew a card.

"Frost and Flame Twin Dragon! Attack his Dark World Guardian - Gigori! Freezing Flames!" The fire head let out a jet of flames while the ice head shot a burst of ice. Both attacks began spinning around each other, forming a single beam of fire and ice.

"Trap card, activate! Forced Trial!" As Rokotsu activated his trap, Moley and Gigori disappeared into it. The image depicted a young boy holding a sword being thrown in front of a large, dark castle. Frost and Flame Dragon's attack collided with the ground where Gigori was standing. Rokotsu waited patiently as the fire and ice shot out in all directions. Strong attack, not as strong as next attack

"Forced Trial sends Moley and Gigori to grave. Then I discard 2 cards, and all attacks of my opponent are negated this turn." Kawari nodded. "I remember that card very well. It almost beat me last time, remember? I'll place one card facedown and end my turn."

Didn't even use its second effect last time. Just wait and see how strong second effect is! "Its my turn, DRAW! Now my final gate will activate! Go, Celestial Gate!"

Moley and Gigori appeared out of Rokotsu's graveyard and tore open the stone doors of their gate. Bright light poured through, and as the dark stone gate vanished, a bright glass one appeared. The central door was made of wood with lines of glass running across it, and glass crystals rose up behind it everywhere, covering Rokotsu's entire field. As the crystals rose, they stabbed the other gates and destroyed them.

"When Celestial Gate is activated, all of my other gates are destroyed! It also special summons 5 Guardian monsters from my graveyard, and adds another Guardian from my deck into my hand!"

Everyone flinched as all 5 of Rokotsu's guardians re appeared on the field. "He's got a whole damn army from a single card!" Inigo yelled. "But now he has no more room for the guardian he just added to his hand! Kawari should be fine as long as he doesn't summon that monster." Lua explained.

Rokotsu's deck spit out a card, which he quickly added to his hand. "Now I tribute all 5 of my Guardian monsters!" Kawari gasped as all 5 of his monsters turned into orbs of light and flew into Celestial Gate. "Sky Guardian - Sefolite is SUMMONED!" Celestial Gate opened and bright light shone through. Kawari put an arm up to cover her eyes as the light got brighter and brighter. The light vanished, and a giant woman hovered on Rokotsu's field. She wore all blue, and the top half of her face was covered by a blue hat. She had large white wings, and carried a staff with a crescent moon shape at the end with a blue gemstone in the middle. (Attack: 2000)

"Sefolite gains 500 attack for each card with "Gate" in its name in my graveyard! Celestial gate protects her from all effects too! I have Exit Gate, Trial Gate, Spell Gate, Dual Darkness Gate, and the Castle Gate and Gate Deeg that I discarded! All together she gains 3000 attack!" (Attack: 7000)

"Now, Forced Trial activates! By removing it from the game, Sefolite gains attack equal to the attack of the monsters sent to the grave by its effect! That's another 2400 attack!" (Attack: 9400)

The ring of people that were surrounding the duel began screaming as Sefolite rose to 9400 attack. SWAT members and police officers began pushing the crowd even further from the duel. Soutou, Lua, Chima, and Inigo turned to run. "Mr. Mutock, lets go! This isn't going to end well, we cant get caught in the *********!" Soutou yelled.

Mr. Mutock stood his ground. "What's wrong Soutou-kun? Don't you think that Kawari will withstand this attack?" Soutou growled with frustration. "She only has 400 life points left." He said grimly. "I don't think that she can withstand 7100 points of damage." Mr. Mutock turned his head to look at Soutou. He had a huge grin on his face.

"Trust Kawari, Soutou. You and her are a lot more alike then you would think." Mr. Mutock turned to look at Kawari. "Just like you, she believes in justice. No matter what, she would never let a criminal just get away like this."

Rokotsu looked over his hand, which consisted of Different Dimension Gate , Monster Gate , and Arsenal Summoner . Damnit, damnit, damnit damnit damnit! I want to finish her, but what are those facedown cards? Sefolite can't be affected by her cards, but what if she has ways around? Need to kill her, kill her for sending me to that hell! Must kill, need to kill, WILL KILL!

"Sefolite, attack her Frost and Flame Dragon! TRIAL'S END LIGHT!" Sefolite raised her staff and began gathering light in the crystal in it. She gripped it with two hands and pointed it at Frost and Flame Dragon. "I activate my trap card, Frozen Soul!"

A giant head made of ice appeared above Kawari. It opened its mouth and began blowing strong, cold wind at Sefolite. As the wind hit Sefolite, she slowly began to freeze over. The head continued to blow wind until Sefolite was frozen solid.

Rokotsu looked up at his monster. "*****, what did you do to Sefolite!" Kawari laughed. "Settle down Rokotsu. Frozen Soul only activates when my life points are 2000 or lower, all it does is stop you from attacking this turn. Sefolite won't be destroyed, so there's always next turn. Right?"

Rokotsu watched as Sefolite broke free from the ice. "Next turn….I'll use Sefolite's effect to increase my life points by 1000 points!" Sefolite held her staff over Rokotsu and flecks of light rained down on him. He took a deep breath as his life points increased. Then I end my turn." He declared.

Rokotsu's Life Points: 2800

Kawari's Life Points: 2300

Kawari smiled. "Then I guess its time to unveil my final trap. I activate my facedown card, Climate Change!"

Frost and Flame Dragon bellowed before it turned into blue and red light and flew back into Kawari's deck. "What's she doing? Lua exclaimed. "She just got rid of her best monster! All she had to do was wait a turn and she could discard a card and blow up that Sefolite!"

"*******, weren't you listening! Celestial Gate stops Sefolite from being affected by her effects! Frost and Flame Dragon's effect wouldn't work on Sefolite!" Inigo yelled. "Her only chance is to destroy Celestial Gate. And her next monster is going to do that." Soutou said. Inigo and Lua both turned to him. "What monster?" They said in unison.

"I return Frost and Flame Dragon to my deck to special summon Desert Twister , ignoring summoning conditions!" Green and yellow light shot out of Kawari's deck. Sand and wind began blowing through the air suddenly. The wind began swirling around the duel field, and the sand made it so that nobody could see the field. As it began to die down, Soutou could just barely make out a giant twister on Kawari's field. It had giant boulders spinning around the outside of it, and it almost reached the ceiling. The wind continued to die down, and as it did the twister began descending to the ground.

Suddenly the torso of a giant green and yellow fiend emerged from the top of the twister. People jumped and screamed as it stuck its long tongue out and shrieked. Rokotsu, although unsurprised, gritted his teeth angrily. "That damn monster….."

"It's the perfect counter for your deck, isn't it Rokotsu?" Kawari asked. "Even if you destroy Celestial Gate, you can't compare to Sefolite's attack! I'll still beat you on my next turn!" Kawari's deck shuffled itself, finishing Climate Change!'s effect.

"That's right Rokotsu. Right now I don't have anything on hand that can beat your Sefolite. I'm waging everything on my next draw." Kawari put a hand on top of her deck. "If my deck truly understands my emotions, then my next card will be…." Kawari closed her eyes and drew her card.

Kawari held the card in front of her face and opened her eyes. Frost and Flame Dragon…. She looked at Rokotsu from behind her card. PERFECT . "Rokotsu, if you didn't want to get tossed back into jail, you shouldn't have gone on this revenge trip. Of all the people you could have gone after, you picked the wrong one."

Rokotsu laughed. "I already told you I aint going back there! You can't defeat Sefolite! On my next turn, ILL CRUSH YOU!" Kawari just shook her head and inserted a card into her duel disk. "You just don't learn, do you? I activate my spell card, Burial From a Different Dimension ! This card will return my 2 Frost Dragons and my Flame Dragon in my removed from game pile back to my graveyard. Then I'll remove them from the game again to re-summon Frost and Flame Dragon!"

Frost and Flame Dragon re-appeared on the field next to Desert Twister. Both of Frost and Flame Dragon's heads roared in unison at Sefolite. "Ugh, she's back where she started!" Inigo complained. "Frost and Flame Dragon still can't touch Sefolite!" Inigo imagined Frost and Flame Dragon's effect being blocked by the giant crystals coming out of Celestial Gate.

"But your forgetting about one of her monsters m'boy." Mr. Mutock said. Inigo looked over her field. "Desert Twister? What sort of effect could it have to take down Sefolite? Effects don't work on it." "Ah yes, but you see, Desert Twister is designed to be Frost and Flame Dragon's counterpart. If Frost and Flame Dragon destroys monsters, then-" "Oaaaah! I see it now!"

"I'll activate the effect of Desert Twister! By discarding 1 card in my hand, I can destroy 1 spell or trap card on your side of the field! I'll discard Element Return to destroy your Celestial Gate! Go, Desert Twister! Sand devil!"

Desert Twister raised its hands and slammed them together, creating a giant blast of sand and wind that ripped through Celestial Gate and destroyed it.

"Alright! Now that Celestial Gate is gone, Frost and Flame Dragon's effect will work on Sefolite!" Lua exclaimed. "Almost, but not enough! Not good enough, Kawari! You don't have any more cards in hand! Frost and Flame Dragon's effect can't be used!" Rokotsu screamed. "When Celestial Gate disappears, Sefolite's attack is cut in half! Its still more then enough to finish you! Finish you!" (Attack: 4700)

"I activate the effect of Element Return!" Kawari declared. "WHAT!" Rokotsu yelled. Mr. Mutock smiled. "That's right. By paying 300 life points, Kawari can add Element Return back into her hand."

Kawari's Life Points: 100

Rokotsu's Life Points: 2800

"Now, Frost and Flame Dragon's effect! I discard one card to destroy Sefolite! Freeze-Fire Blast!" Rokotsu shielded himself while Sefolite was frozen solid, then incinerated into a puddle of water. "Damn YOU!"

"It's over, Rokotsu. Desert Twister, attack him directly! Avalanche Typhoon! Frost and Flame Dragon, Freezing Flames!" Rokotsu was knocked off his feet as the base of Desert Twister's tornado grew and lashed out at him, slamming him with giant boulders and strong winds.

Kawari's Life Points: 100

Rokotsu's Life Points: 500

He attempted to get up, but the second he did he was knocked back down by a dual blast of fire and ice.

Kawari's Life Points: 100

Rokotsu's Life Points: 0

"She did it!" Lua said happily. Mr. Mutock checked his watch. "And with a minute left." Immediately police men and Swat officers started running at Rokotsu. He quickly climbed to his feet. "Nice try Kawari, but I'm still gonna blow this place to bits! Go, Dark H-" Rokotsu looked and saw Kawari running at him. Before he could activate his card she had jumped and smashed a foot into his duel disk, smashing in the life point counter and destroying the device.

Before Rokotsu could react Kawari delivered a powerful blow to his face, knocking him backwards. Immediately upon hitting the floor Rokotsu was scooped up by policemen. The crowd erupted with applause and cheers as Rokotsu was being hauled off.

"Hold on." Kawari said to the two men restraining him. She walked up to Rokotsu and put her face close to his. "Here's a little something for you. Maybe this will keep you away next time." Kawari pulled her face away and socked Rokotsu hard in the jaw. His head flew to one side and he coughed, spitting out blood and a tooth in the process.

"That's enough, come on now." a police officer said as he put a shoulder on Kawari and pulled her over to a bench where two paramedics were waiting. Inigo, Soutou, Mr. Mutock, Chima, and Lua immediately rushed over to her.

"That was great! Your deck is so different from that stupid girly one you used in the Pro Leagues!" Lua said excitedly. Kawari flinched as one of the medics poked the wound on her side. "Heh, thanks. I'm just glad that I got to toss that ******* Rokotsu in jail a second time. I never like dueling him though. If I don't play things exactly right then he goes crazy and forgets the duel and just starts blowing stuff up. I can't go all out against him without things getting out of hand."

"What? Then your saying that you were holding back that duel?" Inigo asked. Kawari nodded. "A little bit. I didn't want him running around blowing people up." Kawari said, laughing a little. Inigo folded his arms. "Pfft, that's a crappy way to have to duel." He took a deep breath. "But I guess I'll praise you for trusting your deck like that. That's an important part of being a duelist."

Soutou remained silent throughout the conversation. Kawari's wound wasn't deep at all, and required no more medical attention. Unfortunately she would have to stay behind and help sort out the entire mess with the police and government, and said she would have to stay behind.

"I'll meet back up with you guys in Europe, maybe Italy. We can talk about all the stuff I've uncovered then. I don't think it'll hurt to wait a few days, right?" Mr. Mutock nodded. "Of coarse, of coarse. Sort this out, and take a few days to rest m'dear." Mr. Mutock patted Kawari on the shoulder. "You work very hard. Perhaps too hard. You deserve a nice rest." Kawari smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Mutock. I'd rather not, but I'll gladly do it for you."

Kawari saw a few men in suits had appeared on the scene. She saw a police officer point over at her and Mr. Mutock's group. "Things are about to get messy over here. Some of the flights are going to be delayed, but shutting down the entire airport for the day would cost too much money, you should be able to get out of here in an hour or two. Hurry up and get out of here before you get tangled up in this mess."

"Ah, yes, lets go everyone!" Mr. Mutock began shuffling away as fast as he could, with Chima at his side helping him along as much as he could. Inigo and Lua followed the two. "It was nice to meet you! See you in Europe!" Lua said happily. She's so cool, I can't wait to see her in Europe!

Soutou was the only one who stayed behind. "Looking for something?" Kawari asked coldly. Soutou shook his head. "Just wanted to say that you did a lot better then I thought you would. You handled everything perfectly." Kawari glared at Soutou. "Don't try and get chummy with me. As far as I'm concerned your just like Rokotsu. You belong in jail."

Soutou's brow furrowed. "Why? For doing a job that you could never do?" He asked angrily. Kawari slowly got off the bench and stared him in the eyes. "For killing someone who deserved to live." Soutou's gaze didn't waver as Kawari's stare bore into him.

"For holding onto childish beliefs, and for not upholding the law." Soutou laughed a little. "So for not playing by your rules, the sit around, do nothing government's rules?" Kawari laughed too. "You just don't get it do you. I believe in criminals getting what they deserve too, but that's never death. I don't care what they've done, or who they've hurt, they get their fair trial, and the judge decides what happens to them. Not you. Your not above the law."

Soutou looked and saw that the suited men were almost there. "I can't wait to see you in Europe Kawari. It'll be fun working together." Kawari moved her face closer to Soutou's. "Yeah, and as soon as this is all over it'll be fun to toss your ass in jail. I'm really looking forward to that."

Soutou turned and began walking away. "Nice job today, Ms. Kawari. See you soon." Soutou picked up the pace and began jogging away.

Kawari turned to greet the suited men. "Kawari Kikou? FBI, were here to ask you a few questions about the incident that happened here today." One of the men said as he flashed his badge. Kawari nodded and bowed. "Of coarse, very nice to meet you." The other man turned his head and looked around. "First, can you tell us who that man was that was talking to you just a minute ago?"

Kawari shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't know who he is. He just asked me for my number and left when I wouldn't give it to him."

Soutou caught up with everyone a few minutes later. He told them that he just had to congratulate Kawari for how she handled the situation with Rokotsu.

"He was just some stupid guy, you know? A nobody."

This chapters custom cards

Spirits Final Intervention

[Normal Spell]

During the turn where monsters in your graveyard are removed from play, you can activate this card. Draw cards equal to the number of cards removed from your graveyard from play during this turn.

Guarding Spirits

[Normal Trap]

When a monster with "Guardian" in its name is destroyed by your opponents card effect, you can activate this card. During this turn, you can make the battle damage from your opponents attacks 0. You can only use this effect equal to the number of "Guardian" monsters that were destroyed by card effects during this turn. During the end phase, each player draws a number of cards equal to the number of "Guardian" monsters destroyed by card effects this turn.

Element Return

[Normal Spell]

When this card is discarded from your hand to the graveyard by the effect of a "Frost and Flame Dragon" or "Desert Twister" you can pay 300 life points to return it to your hand. Remove this card in the graveyard from the game to return 1 "Frost and Flame Dragon" or "Desert Twister" in your graveyard to your hand.

Dual Darkness Gate

[Continuous Spell]

As long as "Underworld Guardian - Moley" and "Dark World Guardian - Gigori" remain face up on your side of the field, this card cannot be destroyed by card effects. During your standbye phase, when you have "Underworld Guardian - Moley" and "Dark World Guardian - Gigori" in your graveyard, you can select 1 "Celestial Gate" from your deck and activate it in an open spell/trap zone. You can then add 1 "Sky Guardian - Sefolite" from your deck to your hand.

Underworld Guardian - Moley

Dark/Level 4/ Zombie/Effect/Attack: 1600/Defense 700

This monster cannot be normal summoned unless there is a "Dual Darkness Gate" face up on your side of the field. This monster cannot be selected as an attack target while there is a face up "Dark World Guardian - Gigori" on your side of the field. Once per turn you can add the attack of "Dark World Guardian - Gigori" to this monsters attack until the end phase of the turn. If this monster destroys an opponents monster as a result of battle, you can destroy 1 spell or trap card on the field.

Dark World Guardian - Gigori

Dark/Level 5/Fiend/Effect/Attack: 800/Defense: 1700

You can special summon this monster from your hand if you control a face up "Underworld Guardian - Moley". "Underworld Guardian - Moley" cannot be destroyed by card effects as long as this monster remains face up on your side of the field. When this monster is selected as an attack target, you can add the defense of "Underworld Guardian - Moley" to the defense of this monster. An opponents monster that attacks this face up defense position monster and does not destroy it as a result of battle is destroyed after damage calculations.

Forced Trial

[Normal Trap]

When a "Guardian" monster is selected as an attack target, you can send a number of "Guardian" monsters on your side of the field to the graveyard, and discard cards from your hand equal to the number of monsters sent to negate that attack and end the battle phase. During your main phase, you can send 1 monster with "Guardian" in its name to the graveyard, and activate 1 card with "Gate" in its name from your deck, and activate the effect of that card. By removing this card in the graveyard from the game, 1 face up "Guardian" monster gains attack equal to the attack of all "Guardian" monsters sent to the graveyard by this card's effect.

Celestial Gate

[Continuous Spell]

When this card is activated, send all other "Gate" cards on your side of the field to the graveyard, and special summon as many monsters with "Guardian" in their name from your graveyard as you can to your side of the field. While this card remains face up on your side of the field, "Sky Guardian - Sefolite" is unaffected by the effects of your opponents monster, magic, and trap cards.

Sky Guardian - Sefolite

Light/Level 6/Fairy/Effect/Attack: 2000/Defense: 2000

This monster cannot be normal summoned or set. This monster cannot be special summoned except by tributing 5 "Guardian" monsters on your side of the field. Increase the attack of this monster by 500 for each card in your graveyard with "Gate" in its name. If there is no "Celestial Gate" on your side of the field, the attack of this monster is halved. Once per turn, you can increase your life points by 1000.

Climate Change!

[Normal Trap]

Activate one of the following effects

Return 1 "Frost and Flame Dragon" to your deck to special summon 1 "Desert Twister" ignoring all summoning requirements

Return 1 "Desert Twister" to your deck to special summon 1 "Frost and Flame Dragon" ignoring all summoning requirements

Next Episode Preview:

Chapter 7: The Trouble with the past (1)

Kawari has joined Mr. Mutock's cause, yet nobody knows anything about her. Lua only knows that she was in the pro league, but nothing else. What was her relationship with Mr. Mutock, what happened during her first encounter with Rokotsu, and who did she lose to in the U9? Just what kind of person has entered this group?

Rokotsu attempted to play "Dark Hole" before Kawari stopped him.

Next chapter will focus on Kawari's backstory. I'm going to try and do "next chapter previews" from now on. Bear with me, Ill get better at it as I go.

Still working on images of the gates/guardians D;

Thanks to all my reviews from last chapter, I really do appreciate them! I'll try and work on that "course/coarse" problem, I dont think I made that mistake this chapter, I'll keep an eye out of that mistake in the future.

Its still sort of fast paced, I'll be more descriptive and slower next chapter, I promise.

I dont think I missed anything, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and reviews are always appreciated.


	4. The Trouble with the Past 1

I know Ive said this by far, but this really is the best chapter so far. Sad, but the best. Its late, Ill add some notes as well as the next chapter preview tomorrow

Pro League Circuit!

Chapter 7: The Trouble with the Past (1)

It had been a long day. Kawari wasn't used to sitting behind a desk for an entire day. She was more interested in being in the field, in the line of fire, and leaving paperwork to cabinet members who were more suited for working at a desk.

Kawari was intently focused on her computer screen as she came close to finishing her report. She turned to her right to look at a paper that she was copying off of. She was about to turn back to her computer when suddenly a coffee cup filled with coffee was placed on the paper. Kawari casually looked up to see a tall, black haired man smiling down at her. He wore a black suit and a bright red tie, and his face was sharp and handsome.

"Can I help you?" She asked coldly. "I'm Tansei Jin, my office is right down the hall from yours. I just thought I'd stop by, say hi, bring you a cup of coffee." Kawari rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah right. Get lost, loser." Tansei laughed as Kawari turned back to her computer. He walked to the front of the desk and put a hand ontop of the monitor, causing Kawari to look up at him.

"Something bothering you?" Kawari glared at him. "What would give you that impression?" He chuckled slightly. "Well, "get lost loser" isn't much of a greeting."

Kawari bit her lower lip and let out a low growl. "Well, it seems like a fitting greeting when someone is snooping into your business." Tansei gave her a puzzled look. "Snooping? All I did was say hi."

"The affliction of your voice suggested that you were being overly casual, which in most situations is used because the speaker is looking for information and doesn't want to offender the person who knows what you want to find out. If you came in with your guns loaded you might put me on the defensive and make me reluctant to share with you what you want to know, so your being overly casual as to not be confrontational and straightforward."

Kawari slammed the enter key on her computer twice and looked up at Tansei, giving him a fake smile. "I have no interest in speaking with you in any way, shape, or form. Goodbye." Tansei laughed loudly. "Alright then, that's fine. Thank you for your time, I think my questions been answered anyways."

Tansei waved a little. "I'll see you around. Oh, and that cup of coffee is for you." He said, pointing at the cup he had set down on her paper. Kawari looked at it as Tansei began walking out of the room. "Wait." She called as he reached the door. "It worked. You've piqued my curiosity. What exactly did you learn from this encounter?"

Tansei put his hands in his pockets and slowly turned around. "Weeeeell, I came in here to ask you if you got this fancy office because your amazing at your job, or because of the incident that happened two months ago with the director. But, like I said, I got my answer."

Kawari looked around at her office. She spent so little time here she didn't even think of such a possibility. It was a very nice office. Her desk sat across the room from two large, glass doors with her name printed on the front of them, and her desk stretched across the entire wall. There was enough room on the floor for a very decorative Japanese-themed rug. Her walls were filled with shelves of plants, and pictures. She even had enough room for a large filing cabinet and two large potted plants. It was much more spacious then her old office, which was probably less then half the size of this one.

"I hadn't noticed how big it was." She said rather calmly. "I just thought that it was due to lack of space or something of that matter." Tansei nodded. "Well, I'll be going then." Kawari groaned. "Hold on again. What answer did you get?"

"That you got this place because your good at your job." Kawari genuinely smiled. "I never really put too much faith in the rumors going around here anyways. I'm not like those other guys who're threatening resignation or whatever over what happened with the director. He got what he deserved, they're just a buncha whiney babies…" Tansei said.

"Go ahead and finish." Kawari said. "What?" Tansei asked. "You trailed off. People commonly do that when they have more to say but they're afraid to say it. I want to hear what you have to say."

Tansei tapped a foot nervously and crossed his arms. "Well…..I….. I mean, it seems stupid now of coarse. Buuuut… I was going to tell you that if you were getting any heat from the guys around here you should let me know. But I think you can take care of yourself."

Tansei gave a little wave to Kawari and walked out of her office. At first she was angry, but her anger quickly subsided. She let out a frustrated sigh. "I can't believe I'm going to do this." She walked out of her office and waved a hand to Tansei. "Hey! Wait up."

Tansei turned around and stopped as Kawari caught up to him. "Although your motive to "protect" me was chauvinistic and ignorant, it was sort of sweet at the same time." Tansei grinned. "Really? Thanks." Kawari looked back at her office then turned back to Tansei. "Look, I'm almost done with that report, and I can finish it tomorrow. Do you want to go and get something to eat?"

Tansei rubbed the back of his head nervously and blushed. "Really? Right now? I dunno, I-" "It was a yes or no question." Kawari interrupted. "Of coarse!" Tansei said happily. "I had some things to take care of before leaving, but I can take care of it later." Kawari smiled a little. "Good, then lets go."

A few hours later, Kawari and Tansei stumbled out of a diner, laughing loudly. Kawari was laughing so hard that she actually tripped over Tansei's shoe and fell. This caused them both to laugh even harder. Tansei grabbed Kawari's hands and pulled her to her feet. She wobbled and leaned against Tansei's side to balance herself.

Tansei blushed a little as he and Kawari continued walking down the street with her pressed against his side and his arm around her. As they both began to calm down, Kawari spoke first. "Listen, its getting late. I should get going." Tansei looked at his wrist. "My watch says its only 10:30. That doesn't seem late to me."

Kawari smiled at him. "I know, but I have to get back to work early tomorrow to finish up that paperwork." Tansei groaned. "Awww, come on, just another hour!" Kawari's smile widened. "You seemed pretty reluctant to go out with me in the first place, why is it that now you suddenly don't want tonight to end?" Kawari stepped in front of Tansei and put a hand on his chest. "I hope your not looking to get me back to your house Tansei." She said as she drew her face closer to his.

Tansei blushed. He put a hand on Kawari's wrist and pulled her hand off of his chest. "I don't want tonight to end because I feel like I've finally gotten you to open up. At work your always so closed off and quiet." He leaned down a little so that his eyes met hers. "I just want to know more about you. And I feel like if we both part ways now, that'll never happen."

Kawari's entire face turned red. "Well, I guess I don't have to go home just yet… how about another hour?" Tansei's face lit up. "Alright then! I want to show you this really great place, its just a few blocks down!"

"Its beautiful." Kawari said in amazement.

The two of them were standing in front of a fountain in the middle of a park. Lush, green fields surrounded them on all sides, and smooth sidewalks formed paths all around the edges of the park, each one eventually traveling to the center, where the fountain was.

Water was shooting off in all directions from the enormous fountain. It was surrounded by a ring of varying fish and sea-serpents, all of which sprayed water into the center of the fountain, where a large winged dragon spat water straight up into the air. Lights surrounded the entire fountain, illuminating the water as it shot into the air.

Tansei sat down o the edge of the fountain between two statues. He scooted over a little as Kawari sat down next to him. "This is a really popular place, I'm surprised you haven't been out here before." Kawari looked down at her feet. "I don't really get out much." She mumbled.

Feeling as though he hat hit a bad spot, Tansei decided to change the subject. "You know each one of these statues is a duel monster, right? I always thought that was kind of funny." Kawari took her eyes off her feet and gave Tansei a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I know that some people are really into it and stuff, but I never really caught on. It always felt really childish to me. I just don't get why someone would make statues after monsters from a card game." Kawari scowled at him. "You know, there's a huge problem with psychic duelists right now. People getting hurt doesn't seem very childish to me."

Tansei froze. "Oh, that's right… that's your department, isn't it? Look, I'm sorry Kawari, I didn't mean it like that, I just… I think I don't like Duel Monsters because I was always bad at it as a kid." Kawari's expression softened. "What do you mean?"

Tansei looked away. "Well, you know. It was the big scene even in high school, and I was probably the worst player out of my entire school. Its hard to fit in when you don't follow the trends and stuff."

"I don't believe in changing yourself to suit others or certain conditions. The rules of Duel Monsters are laid out just like the law. They're straightforward and resolute. No matter what happens, you have to stick to those rules. That's why I like the game, there's nothing to change about you or how you play it. Its also why I hate cheaters. There's nothing worse then a cheater."

"So that's why your such an independent woman huh? Unwilling to budge even a little for anyone." Tansei said with a smile on his lips. "I'm guessing that's why you joined the cabinet too?" He asked. Kawari nodded. "And what about you? What made you choose this career path?"

Tansei looked up at the sky. "I guess because I like to help people. By solving murders and crimes and catching criminals, I give people closure, safety, peace. I feel like it brings people together, and unifies them. If there weren't any criminals in this world, we'd live in a much happier, unified place." Tansei looked down at the ground. "I just want to bring people together. Were all humans after all, right? We should all be able to live, and work together."

Tansei looked over at Kawari. He lifted a hand and went to put it on her hand, but he hit her pocket instead. "What is that?" He asked as he felt a large, square lump. Kawari jumped and moved away a little. "Um, its nothing…" Tansei laughed. "Don't try and fool me Kawari, I know what that is! I cant believe you brought your deck with!"

"Tansei, its not like that! Its Cabinet protocol to carry your deck with you-" Tansei put a hand on Kawari's shoulder and a finger on her lips. "Calm down Kawari, I'm just pulling your leg. C'mon, I wanna see your deck. Show me what kind of rare cards the Cabinet's given you." Kawari bit her lip nervously. "Alright I guess…"

She reached into her pocket and handed her deck box to Tansei. He opened it and took her deck out and began flipping through her cards. "I think another reason that I never liked this game is because I'm terribly unlucky. There's no way I could pull off some of the stuff the guys in the pro league do."

"What do you mean!" Kawari exclaimed suddenly. "Duel monsters isn't a game of luck!" Tansei was surprised by her outburst. "O-oh? Really? I didn't know that. Its just that sometimes I would need a certain card, and I wouldn't draw it, and-" Kawari snatched her deck out of his hands.

"A deck is supposed to represent who you are as a duelist. By modeling your deck after yourself, you project yourself into your cards. A duelist who's one with their deck doesn't rely on luck, but pure and undeniable skill. This deck is just as much apart of me as any of my other body parts are. But its more important then the rest of them. It speaks about me as a person, and tells people exactly who I am."

Tansei slowly and carefully pulled the deck out of Kawari's hands. "I see." He said as he began flipping through it again. "Well, it seems like you've got a lot of cards that are focused on earth, water, fire, and wind monsters in here. But the overall focus is clearly summoning and supporting Desert Twister, and Frost and Flame Dragon."

"That tells me that you're the kind of person who can weather anything. No matter what the conditions, no matter how drastically things change, you stand your ground, focusing only on the goal ahead of you." Kawari snatched her deck back again. "M-maybe you're a little right." She said as she put the deck back into its deck box. Tansei grabbed her hand. "I really respect that about you."

Kawari blushed and calmed down. "Thank you." She said quietly. They both sat in silence for a few minutes. "It's almost 11:30." Tansei said as he stood up. "I'll walk you home." Kawari got up and grabbed his hand. "Oh no you wont. I asked you out, I paid for the food, now I'm going to be the one to walk YOU home." Tansei laughed. "Alright, I wont argue it."

It was only a 10 minute walk back to Tansei's house, but Kawari walked as slow as possible. It took them 30 minutes to reach his townhouse a few blocks away.

"Well, I guess I'll see you at work tomorrow." Tansei said as they reached is front door. He gave Kawari a hug and unlocked the door. He was about to open it when Kawari put her hand on his. "Wait a minute. Aren't you going to give me a tour?" Tansei gave her a questioning look. "That look on your face tells me that your up to something." Kawari smiled innocently. "I'm just curious, that's all."

Tansei smiled back and opened the door. "Alright, a quick tour. But that's all."

"And, last but not least, my room. I was kind of hoping you would want to skip this one, I didn't have time to tidy up or anything." Tansei opened the door and ushered Kawari into his room. Despite what he had said, it was nearly spotless. One large, king sized bed sat against one wall, and across from it was a large dark brown dresser with a TV sitting on top of it.

The walls were painted a simple white, and off in the corner Kawari could see a closet. A small nightstand with a lamp on it sat next to the bed as well.

But the thing that caught here eye most was the bed. It was decorated with what must have been silk red sheets and golden pillows. "You liar, this place is spotless." Kawari said as she continued to look for any sign of filth.

"Well, I would have liked to vacuum and dust a little." Kawari took a few steps into the room and looked at Tansei's dresser. "You were talking to me earlier about opening up, but what about you? This house has some nice furniture and decorations, but it doesn't say anything about you."

"Unfortunately in the world of adults there isn't much freedom. People usually just laugh at you for putting up posters and stuff like that." Kawari stopped focusing on the dresser and turned around to look at Tansei.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked suddenly. Tansei almost jumped at the question. "Um, what?" Kawari shook her head. "I mean, why are you always so concerned with what other people do or think? You should think about what's important to you, and what you want to do. That's the only way you can be happy in life."

Tansei took a step forward towards Kawari. "Heh, sorry. I know its pretty silly, but I cant help it. I like helping people, and making people happy. You know, its not always a bad thing to let people help you. It means that they care about you." Tansei put a finger on Kawari's chin and lifted it so that her eye's met his. "You don't have to close yourself off just because your worried about getting hurt."

Kawari gazed deep into Tansei's eyes for a minute. Before she knew what she was doing, she leaned up and kissed him. Tansei was surprised at first, but after a few seconds he began kissing her back. Kawari reached behind him and turned the lights off. In the dark Tansei lost his footing and fell backwards onto his bed, with Kawari on top of him.

Tansei pulled away from her. "Look, it's late. Do you want me to give you a ride home? Bec-" Kawari put a hand on his mouth and silenced him. "I don't want to go anywhere. This is where I want to be right now. And I don't think anything in my entire life has felt more right."

Two Years Later

"I cant believe I'm stuck behind this desk two days in a row." Kawari mumbled to herself. Her head frequently went from looking at her computer, to reading the paper next to her. She was in the middle of typing when suddenly everything went black.

"Guess who?" Kawari laughed and pulled the hands off of her eyes. "Tansei you jerk, you messed me up." She hit the backspace key several times as Tansei pulled up a chair next to her. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "So, what're you working on today?"

"Nothing, I'm just filling out the report on that last psychic duelist we put away." Tansei nodded. "I see. We'll your probably too busy for good news then." Tansei said as he stood up. "I'll just be go-" Kawari grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back into his seat. "Don't even try it! You know I hate it when you do that. Besides, I have good news too."

Tansei gave her a questioning look. "Oh really? Who goes first then?" Kawari stopped typing and turned towards him. "I doubt that your news tops mine, so I'll go first." Kawari grabbed Tansei's hands and began rubbing the backs of them with her thumbs. She stopped every time she reached his ring, enjoying how cold and smooth it was.

"Are you ready?" She asked him excitedly. Tansei nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be!" "Ok! I went to see the doctor this morning like you said I should…. And I'm pregnant!"

All of the color drained out of Tansei's face. "Wha- your…. that's great!" Kawari's excitement died. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy?" Tansei shook his head. "No, it's just- of coarse I'm excited! This is incredible." Kawari gave him a stern look. "Don't try that on me. You know you can't lie to me." Tansei stuttered for a minute before letting out a deep breath. "Ok, fine. I am uncontrollably excited. But I'm scared too."

"What's there to be afraid of? Listen, I promise you that your going to be a good father! And nothing is going to change between-" "No, that's not it." He interrupted. Tansei got up and started pacing. "My good news was that we got the psychic duelist you caught to talk, and he spilled the whereabouts of a hideout with more then 30 incredibly advanced psychic duelists. I wanted to let you know that they're sending in a team tonight to catch them and that they wanted you in, but now I don't think that it's a very good idea, I me-"

Kawari got up and grabbed one of his hands. "Calm down, calm down. Listen, nothing is going to happen to me. I'm only a month and a half pregnant, I'll be fine." Tansei refused to look her in the eyes. Kawari put a hand on the side of his face and gently turned him towards her. "Nothing is going to happen to me, ok? I'll be fine." Tansei smiled. "Your right, your absolutely right. But I'm going with you. I'm going to talk to the chief about putting me on the team." Tansei gave Kawari a kiss and turned to leave. "Wait, hold on a second!" Kawari caught up with him and grabbed his hand. "You don't have a duel disk, a deck, and even if you did you're a terrible duelist."

Tansei laughed. "That's why I'm going in armed. I've come across very few problems in life that a gun can't solve." Tansei gave her another kiss and walked out. Kawari walked followed him. "Were both going to be sticking together tonight!" She yelled to him as he walked down the hall.

Tansei had made it just in time to the directors room, and after explaining the situation he was more then happy to let him join the unit going after the group of psychic duelists.

And so, Kawari and Tansei had spent the entire night being debriefed, and coming up with their own plan with each other in case things went bad. The group left at 7:00 in an armored van, and arrived at the deserted warehouse at 8:00.

"Now, there's always a chance that this is a setup." The team's leader announced. "It's especially risky considering that were short quite a number of men. While they have at least 30, we have only 15. Its going to be dangerous. And no, we wont be able to catch them all. But we do have a few prime suspects."

The team leader pulled a paper out of his pocket and passed it around. "Brutus Cespice, and this man, who's name is unconfirmed. He goes by the King." Kawari and Tansei looked at the two faces on the poster. One was of a dark, apparently African man. Only his face and some of his shoulders were visible, but they could both see that he was enormous.

The other was a thin, old man with a tussled head of grey hair. He was very thin, and his face had black grease smudged on it. "They don't look too bad." Kawari whispered to Tansei. Tansei passed the paper on to the next person.

"I don't want anyone to worry about how many guys there are, or how strong they are. Surveillance shows that at least 10 of them are inexperienced duelists, and still incapable of fully controlling their psychic powers. Were going to keep on our toes and watch out for any surprises. At the same time I want you to hit them with everything you've got. Watch each others backs, and stick to the plan."

The back doors to the van opened, and everyone filed out. Tansei and Kawari were to climb up the fire escape on the right side of the building and enter the top floor of the building. From there they were to count the number of people in the building, and signal for everyone to attack.

"You look kind of pale honey. Something bothering you?" Kawari asked Tansei. "I'm fine. I just don't want this to turn out to be a trap." Kawari grabbed his hand. "Don't worry. We're in the least amount of danger out of everyone here. Were going to be fine.

Kawari and Tansei silently climbed the fire escape ladder up to the escape door. Luckily for them, it was already open. They looked around and saw that there were no guards and slipped into the warehouse.

The two stood on a metal walkway that circled the walls of the old warehouse. The center was open, allowing a person to look down at the floor below. Kawari activated her duel disk and Tansei readied his handgun.

They slowly moved to the edge of the railing and looked down. The entire floor below was empty. "This doesn't make any sense. He said that there was going to be a meeting held tonight." Kawari whispered. "I mean, if they're not here it has to have been-" "Kawari!"

Kawari felt her feet leave the ground, and her body flying forward out of control. There was a loud bang, and suddenly there was nothing but air beneath them. Kawari's eyes widened with terror as she felt herself begin to fall.

She braced for impact, but it never came. There was a loud sound, like something smashing into metal, and she wasn't falling anymore. Kawari shakily lifted herself to her feet. She had landed in a dumpster that was in the alleyway. She looked down at her feet and saw that she had landed on a very old mattress, which had cushioned most of the fall. To her left was Tansei. He had one arm outstretched to where Kawari had landed.

Tansei must have grabbed me before… Kawari looked up at the building above them. There was fire coming out of the large gaping hole where the fire escape door once was. Kawari looked back at Tansei. He was unconscious, and there was a small amount of blood trickling down his face.

Kawari felt tears well up in her eyes. She felt his neck. Good, he still has a pulse. "Everything's going to be alright Tansei. Everything's going to be alright…" She whispered as she lifted him up and gently placed him on the mattress.

Kawari pressed a button on the walkie-talkie on her shoulder. "This is Kawari, reporting in that it's a trap. I repeat, it's a set up. Check the surrounding areas, at least 1 psychic duelist has been confirmed." Kawari heard footsteps in the alley. She covered Tansei as best she could and hopped out of the alley with her duel disk ready.

A teenager, probably 16 or 17 at least was standing there, ready to greet her. He had his duel disk activated and a giant monster made of blue flames stood behind him. "I'm surprised you survived that. I put as much power into Frembell devil's attack, just like they told me to." You guys must be strong.

Kawari pressed a button on her duel disk, and a metal claw shot out of it and attached to the boy's duel disk. "An explosive grapple?" He laughed. "You must be mistaken. I have no intentions of dueling you! Frembell devil!" Suddenly blood exploded from the boy's shoulder. His face went pale and he dropped to the ground unconscious. Kawari looked and saw Tansei climb out of the dumpster.

"Tansei" she yelled excitedly. She ran over to him and hugged him. He hugged her back. "Don't worry, that kid'll be fine. The bullet should've just gone through his shoulder. He wont die."

Kawari gave Tansei a kiss. "I'm glad your ok." Tansei gave her a quick hug. "We should get out of here, its not safe now that we know it's a setup." Kawari nodded as Tansei grabbed her hand and began to lead her out of the alley.

"You wont be safe just because you get out of this place." Kawari and Tansei stopped as a shadowy figure stepped out in front of the alley way exit. "You can run, and hide, and maybe you'll feel a little safe." The figure said as it slowly began to step forward. "But the Cabinet is our main target. We will not rest until it crumbles into the earth, until its entirely destroyed. Until the discrimination against our kind is put to an end."

Kawari and Tansei saw a set of pure white teeth appear. They formed a smile on the face of the shadowy figure. "Until were recognized for our superiority."

What's with this feeling? Its ominous, it feels like I'm being sucked into a black void of despair. Kawari shook her head. No, I can't think like that. The second I let up my guard its over.

Tansei raised his gun. "Sir, you are under arrest for associating with psychic duelists. If you have a duel disk and deck, I want them on the ground now." The smile vanished. "Hmph, there you go again, discriminating against us for no reason." Sweat began forming on Tansei's forehead. "Duel disk and deck, now." The smile returned.

"Ohh, you mean these?" He removed something from his arm and placed it on the ground. Tansei squinted and saw that it was infact a duel disk with a deck loaded into it. "Good, now I want you up against the wall with your hands behind your back."

Something isn't right here… Kawari thought to herself. She suddenly turned around and whipped her explosive grapple into the darkness behind them. There was a loud clank and she pulled on the cord, causing a man to stumble out of the shadows into the light of the fire.

The shadow clicked its tongue. "Now now Rokotsu, you weren't supposed to get caught. I told you to keep quiet and wait until they went to arrest me."

Rokotsu struggled with the explosive grapple that was now attached to his duel disk. "Grrrrr, ****! King, get this thing off of my disk! Get off!" The shadow took a step forward into the light and picked up it's duel disk.

"I'm sorry Rokotsu, but its your fault that you got caught. You shouldn't have screwed up like that. Then you wouldn't be in this situation." Rokotsu continued to struggle with the cord. "Settle down over there. The only way to get it off is to remove your disk." Kawari said.

Rokotsu stopped struggling for a minute and looked at her with rage. He then looked down at his duel disk. He went to undo the clasp, then suddenly started struggling again. "DAAAMN BIIITCH!" He yelled as he tugged at the cord. Kawari laughed. "Seems you've still got some pride as a duelist. Let's start then."

Tansei took a few steps forward towards King. "So your King, huh? Your at the top of the list of people we need to haul back with us. Drop the disk, or I'll shoot." King looked up at Tansei. He was leaning down and had one hand on his disk. "Alright then, I'll leave it here." He said as he began pulling his hand away.

"Or not." Before Tansei could react he pulled a card off the top of his deck and threw it onto the duel disk. Light began glowing in front of the disk, where Tansei stood. He grabbed Kawari by the waist and leapt backwards as a giant red mechanical dragon appeared.

Fusilier Dragon, huh? Pretty good draw, King." Kawari scrambled to her feet as another voice spoke from behind Rokotsu.

"Ahh, Brutus. Nice to see you. I thought things might get messy with just Rokotsu here. He's not very competent." King said happily

Brutus slowly stepped out of the shadows with a duel disk activated. Enraged Battle Ox walked just as slowly behind him. "Yeah, everyone else is getting caught. I did my best to help them out, but they're panicking. Nobodies sticking to the plan. I figured I'd find you and help you out if you needed it."

Brutus grinned as Enraged Battle Ox began chopping at the steel cord connecting Rokotsu and Kawari's duel disks. "Looks like you've got these guys pinned down. I love cornered prey." Brutus said, licking his lips.

"Yeah, this is shaping up to be a good time. I think we can have some fun with these two now." King said with a laugh, Fusilier roar and began charging the laser cannons on it's shoulders. "Like hell you will!"

King yelled as Tansei punched him hard in the face, knocking him backwards and causing him to fall face first into the ground. He then jumped onto the neck of Fusilier and climbed his way to its head in seconds. He put his handgun away and pulled an AK-47 off of his back, which he pointed directly a the beasts head. He pulled the trigger and held it, letting loose a round of bullets in the machine's head.

The mechanical dragon screamed as smoke began pouring out of the bullet holes. Tansei jumped down to its body and hopped off as its head exploded. Kawari couldn't help but smile. Cocky *******s, they got so busy talking that they didn't even notice Tansei.

Tansei immediately walked over to King and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "Nice try buddy, but all you did was buy yourself even more time in jail." He cuffed one of his hands, but the other was trapped beneath his body. Tansei reached for his arm to pull it out from underneath him.

"Tansei!" Kawari yelled. Enraged Battle Ox had given up on the metal cord and instead charged at Tansei with its axe raised high. Kawari jumped at the beast and knocked it to the ground. It thrashed and raged as Kawari tried her best to keep it down. The point of its sharp weapon occasionally sc***** her shoulder, but she contained it.

Tansei smiled as Kawari pinned the beast. "Nice job, Kawari! Damn, and that thing's at least two feet taller then you!" Tansei laughed as he went to cuff King's other hand.

It wasn't in his hand anymore.

King turned around and slammed another card into his duel disk. Suddenly a large laser gun appeared in his hand. Tansei moved to the right, only to realize that the gun wasn't aimed at him, but behind him.

It was aimed at Kawari.

Tansei grabbed King's hand and pulled it towards him. King's expression of joy suddenly turned to one of shock as he fired at Tansei's stomach from point blank. The blast traveled through his stomach and continued on to Enraged Battle Ox. The monster yelled as the blast traveled through its chest and shattered it into millions of pixels.

Tansei gasped as he fell forward onto the ground. King made a disgusted face and pulled himself out from underneath his lifeless body. Brutus quickly rushed over to him. "King, King! Get up, there's at least 7 more armed men coming this way! We've gotta leave now or were never getting out of here!" King nodded as Brutus helped the old man to his feet.

"Don't think that this is over, woman. The jobs only half finished. We'll come back for you, you can be sure of that." King spat on the back of Tansei's head. "You can count on it."

Rokotsu shrieked. "KING, KING! ME! HELP ME! DON'T WANNA GET CAUGHT! HELP!" Brutus looked back at Rokotsu. "Sorry Rokotsu, but there's no time. Good luck to you." Brutus and King hobbled off as Rokotsu continued to shriek.

Kawari stumbled over to Tansei's limp body. She put a hand on his neck, and felt nothing. Blood continued to pour out of his stomach as Kawari lifted Tansei's lifeless body and held it in her arms.

She didn't cry. She didn't scream. Her face didn't turn red with anger, and her face didn't twist with hate. She simply held Tansei tightly in her arms with a calm expression on her face.

"*****!" Rokotsu screamed. "YOU *****! YOU MADE THEM ABANDON ME! NOW, I'M GOING TO…!" Rokotsu charged at Kawari with a hand outstretched, ready to claw at any part of her he could reach. Kawari gently set Tansei on the ground as Rokotsu charged. He was inches from her when she turned around and drove the bottom of her foot into his stomach.

"UGWAH!" He yelled as he was knocked flying backwards. He continued to skid against the ground until he was snapped back by the metal cord connecting him to Kawari. "How about this then? If you beat me in this duel, you get to walk free." Rokotsu jumped to his feet. "Finish you off in one turn! One turn and your done!"

"Good, come at me with everything you've got." Kawari said as she drew five cards. "After all, I've got a lot of anger I need to pour into you. If you hold back, they'll be throwing you in a coffin instead of a jail cell."

"Desert Twister, direct attack! AVALANCHE TYPHOON!" Desert Twister shrieked as its tornado increased dramatically in size. Rokotsu screamed as the tornado lashed out at him, pelting him with giant boulders and incredibly strong winds. As his life points dropped to 0, his duel disk exploded.

The other members of Kawari's team had arrived on the scene several minutes ago, but waited until the duel was over on Kawari's request. Now that Rokotsu had lost, they swarmed the area like bees on honey.

"One fatality, Tansei Jin…" Kawari heard someone say into a walkie talkie. She heard helicopters in the distance, and even an ambulance had showed up. A member of her team came up to her and walked her over to the van they had arrived in where he sat down and talked to her for awhile.

But even as all this was going on, Kawari felt like everything was silent.

"I told you I wanted to use my own deck god damnit!" Kawari hissed furiously as she walked quickly down the dimly lit hallway.

A short, skinny man in a suit with circular glasses took long strides to keep up with her fast pace. "I put in the request to the Cabinet, but they said no! They said that it would blow your cover! They said that with the odds that have been given to you its incredibly unlikely that you'll lose.!"

"Incredibly unlikely? That's a big fat pile of horse ****! I'm going up against one of the U9 for christ sake!" Kawari attached her neon pink duel disk and adjusted her wig. "If I lose to this ******* I'm going back to the Cabinet with my guns loaded." She said angrily as she stepped out of the tunnel onto the duel field.

"And here she is! The Pro League's NUMBER ONE cute-deck duelist! Brittany Pinkella!" The announcers voice echoed through the tunnel as the man began walking back down it. "Damn she's scary…"

Kawari raised a hand as the crowd erupted in cheers. Instead of her shoulder length black hair, she wore a bright pink wig that only went past her ears. She wore a white and pink mini-skirt, and a bright pink tank top.

"Keep cheering everyone! Your cheers make my deck SUUUUPER happy!" She said in the cutesiest voice she could. Although she had a huge smile on the outside, she was furious on the inside. I hate my alias…

"And her opponent! The self proclaimed human form of the machine kiiing! Lance T. Yonborg!" The crowd erupted in cheers as an old man emerged from the tunnel. Despite his age, his hair still appeared to be a healthy shade of light brown, and his face was wide and rigid.

Kawari kept up her smile in order to keep her alias, but on the inside she was looking at Lance with pure hatred. That *******…. No matter how much he changes his face, or hair, I can still see the person underneath. There's no way I'm going to lose.

The crowd erupted in a series of boos and Lance slowly walked over to the duel platform. He was handed a rigid, square duel disk with tons of shiny bolts and wires attached to it. As Lance stepped up onto the stage people began throwing drinks and food down at him.

Despite this, he had a confident smile spread across his face. Kawari threw a peace sign into the air. "Don't worry everyone! I'll be sure to make this a super fun duel! There's no way my cute monsters will lose to those ugly machines!"

"I see. So this is what you've resorted to after that night, is it? Did you suffer a mental breakdown, or was he holding you back from dueling half naked in front of millions of people?" Lance muttered under his breath, loud enough so that Kawari could hear him.

"Beauty before age!" Kawari giggled as she drew five cards from her deck, and then a sixth. "I summon Agido in defense position! Then I activate Graceful Charity! I'll draw 3 cards, then discard two!"

"Brittany starts the duel with heavy drawing power! What card could she be trying to draw out with these tactics?" The announcer yelled excitedly.

"One card facedown! Your turn, grandpa!" Lance nodded and slowly drew a card. "I summon Fusilier Dragon, the Dual Mode Beast in attack position! When Fusilier is summoned without tributes, its attack points are halved." Kawari's heart skipped a beat as the mechanical red dragon appeared on the field.

"An old favorite of Lance's! But Fusilier Dragon is never alone in his deck! Let's see what cards he combos with it!" The announcer screamed. Lance laughed. "Such a pathetic deck you have, isn't it! I'll spare you the suffering of dragging this duel out and end it quickly! I activate my spell card, Prototype In! By sending Fusilier to the graveyard, I can summon Machine King Prototype from my deck!"

"Machine King Prototype gains 100 attack for each machine type monster on the field, including himself. Next I'll play Junk Workshop! This card will special summon Fusilier from my graveyard with its attack points halved!" (Attack: 1400)

"With these tactics, Lance has already summoned 2 monsters in a single turn!" Lance laughed. "Two? I'll be summoning more then that! Reckless Summoning of Hell, activate! With this card, I can special summon 2 more Fusilier Dragons from my deck to the field. You can then special summon as many Agido from your deck to the field."

"Th-Th-There it is! Four monsters in one turn! Let's all pray that Brittany's facedown card is something that can protect her, or this duel is over!" The announcer screamed in the microphone.

Two more giant red dragons appeared next to the first one as one more Agido appeared on Kawari's field. "With 4 machines, Machine King Prototype's attack increases by 400!" (Attack: 2000)

"Now, my weakened Fusilier will attack Agido! Dual Laser!" The two lasers mounted on the dragon's shoulder's began charging green light before firing at Kawari's fairy. She shielded herself as the monster was blown apart. Wh-whats going on? That wasn't anything like the attack of a psychic duelist. It just felt like the usual solid vision stuff. What exactly is going on here?

"You old dummy! Now Agido's effect will activate! I roll a dice, and then I can summon a fairy with a level equal to what I roll! Here we go! Diiiiiice, roll!"

A shadowy image of Agido appeared above Kawari and exploded, causing an orange dice to drop onto the field. It bounced around for awhile before landing on 6.

"Hurray! If I get a 6, I can summon a level 6 or higher monster! I'll special summon my discarded monster! Come on, Guardian Angel Joan!" The dice began to shine and the field was engulfed in bright light as Guardian Angel Joan appeared.

"Its only the second turn, and Kawari has already summoned the powerful, beautiful, elegant St. Joan! How will Lance respond to this!" The announcer said dramatically. Lance didn't waver. "Fusilier, attack Guardian Angel Joan! Dual Laser!"

The dragon once again fired two laser blasts at Kawari's Joan. Joan raised its wings into the air and they began to glow. The laser's pierced her wings just as she created a flash of light that enveloped the field, destroying Fusilier.

"Joan is gone just as quickly as she came! But with one more Agido left, Brittany still has the chance to summon her again!"

"With one less Machine, Machine King Prototype will lose 100 attack. (Attack:1900) But this is still more then enough to beat Agido. Machine King Prototype! Attack her Agido!"

Once again an orange dice was dropped onto Kawari's field. It bounced twice before landing on 5. Kawari cheered. "Today I'm suuuper lucky! I'll summon Angel of Might -Vac in defense position!

"Fusilier! Attack her Angel of Might! Dual Laser!" Kawari flinched as Vac shattered. "You meanie, I wont forgive you for destroying my cute monsters." Lance ignored her as he played a facedown card. "I place one card facedown. Turn end."

"Its myyyyyyyyyy turn!" Kawari exclaimed as she drew a card. "First I'll play Soul Release! Guardian Angel Joan, both my Agido, and your Fusilier will be removed from the game! Bye-bye!"

Lance pulled Fusilier out of his graveyard and put it in his pocket. "And what do you intend to do with such a move?" He asked Kawari as she put 2 of the 3 monsters in her bra. "I'll play my trap, Miracle Arrival! This card will bring Guardian Angel Joan back to the field! Hurray!"

"Brittany's ace returns!" The announcer yelled. "Next I'll activate Court of Justice! When I control a level 1 Fairy monster, I can summon a fairy from my hand. And I have the greatest level 1 fairy of all time! I summon my Guide of Victory Freya in attack!" (Attack: 100)

Lance laughed. "What a useless monster. It seems that it only helps in calling out stronger ones, doesn't it?" Kawari waggled a finger at him. "Dooont underestimate my guys! Freya will give all Fairy monsters 400 extra attack!" (Freya's Attack: 500) (Joan's Attack: 3200)

"Now Court of Justice will specially summon Athena from my hand to the field!" Lance watched as a beam of light shot down from above Kawari and an elegant, giant woman appeared on her field.

"Three monsters in just one turn! With two of them at 3000 and higher, Lance will be in for a rough time!"

"Now I'll activate Celestial Transformation! This will special summon a Fairy from my hand with its attack and defense points halved! I summon Gellen Duo from my hand!" (Attack: 850)

Summon as many trashy monsters as you want, they're powerless in the face of my planet monster. Lance thought as he surveyed Kawari's field. "Such pathetic things. Do you really think that they stand a chance in the face of my mighty machine monsters?"

"We'll see! Athena's effect! When a Fairy type monster is summoned, you lose 600 life points!" Lance remained motionless as Athena shot a beam of light into his shoulder.

Brittany's Life points: 4000

Lance's Life Points: 3400

"Now I'll use Athena's other effect! By tributing Gellen Duo, I can special summon a fairy from my grave! I tribute Gellen Duo to summon Angel of Might - Vac to the field in attack position!" (Attack: 2600) "Now Athena's effect will activate!"

Brittany's Life Points: 4000

Lance's Life Points: 2800

"Brittany has countered Lance's play on his previous turn with three monsters of her own! Will he survive like she did, or is this the end of the duel!"

"Athena, attack his Fusilier! Peace-Bringing Spear!" Athena rushed forward with her spear and stabbed at Fusilier. Lance grinned. "I activate my trap card, Spare Parts Garage!"

Several fiendish looking mechanics jumped out of Lance's trap card and jumped on his weakened Fusilier. They quickly began pulling it apart with various tools, tossing all the pieces onto the ground. They then took the pieces and constructed a giant shield in front of Lance's other Fusilier and Machine King Prototype.

"This card requires me to offer one machine type monster as a tribute. In return, all damage coming from machine type monsters until my next turn is reduced to zero!" Kawari pouted and crossed her arms. "That's no fun, I was going to win. Turn end."

"Lance has survived Brittany's onslaught this turn! But with only one card on hand, this may be his last draw! He'll have to go through all of Kawari's monsters before he can reach Freya, meaning he must summon a monster with over 3200 attack to surive!"

Lance snapped a card of the top of his deck and grinned. "This duel is over. I tribute Fusilier Dragon the Dual Mode Beast and Machine King Prototype to summon my ace monster!" Kawari took a step back. Ace monster? Then, the only monster he could be summoning is-

"The big SATURN!" The crowd was silent with awe as Lance announced the summoning of his strongest monster. The giant mechanical monster appeared on the field with its arms floating high above its head, ready to attack. "I'll activate the effect of The Big Saturn! By discarding 1 card, and giving up 1000 life points, I can increase its attack by 1000!"

The Big Saturn began to transform, revealing an arsenal of missiles and laser as its attack rose. (Attack: 3800). Lance began laughing. "Now, The big SATURN! Attack her Angel of Might - Vac! The End of Cosmos!"

The Big Saturn let loose every weapon in its arsenal at Kawari's fairy. The attack was so strong that she didn't see its destruction. There was a flash of light, a loud bang, and when she opened her eyes, Vac was gone.

Brittany's Life points: 2800

Lance's Life points: 1800

"Baaad idea!" Kawari taunted. "You should have attacked Athena or Joan. Now your out of cards, and on my next turn I can use either one of my monsters to kill Saturn and finish you off! Its my wiiiiin~"

Lance began cackling as Saturn's weapons began to disappear. "Next turn? Don't embarrass yourself! This duel's dragged on for long enough! Its going to end now!" Kawari gave Lance a puzzling look. "What do you mean?"

Lance showed her the trap card he discarded. "When Faulty Engine is sent to the graveyard, its placed in my opponents graveyard." He explained as he threw the card perfectly into Kawari's duel disk. "And now by removing a machine type monster in my graveyard from the game, I can force you to use Faulty Engine's effect! By removing it in your graveyard from the game, you must destroy a monster on the field!"

"What's this old geezer aiming at?" Someone in the audience asked. "This old mans off his rocker, he's putting himself down for the count!" Another person said with fear in their voice. "Just forfeit before you embarrass yourself old man!"

"Oh my! The big SATURN has an effect to deal damage to both players equal to its attack when its destroyed by a card effect! It appears that Lance is going to try and end the duel in a tie!" The announcer said excitedly.

Kawari giggled. "Silly old man. You can't beat me, so you have to resort to such a dirty trick. Your funny, but you still wont win. This will be the first time a member of the U9 didn't win a duel~!" Kawari said happily. She threw up a peace sign. "I win!"

Lance remained calm. "Oh, I don't intend on losing little girl. Did you forget the effect of Spare Parts Garage? I can't take damage through machine type monsters battling, or through their effects." The ghoulish mechanics from Lance's trap card emerged once more and moved the shield in front of him. There was a small opening in the front of the Shield for Lance to look through. One mechanic approached him with a pair of sunglass-like goggles.

"Ah, why thank you." He said as he slipped them on. "Now I'll remove Fusilier Dragon the Dual Mode Beast to force the activation of Faulty Engine!" Gasps were heard throughout the crowd. "This old man is nuts!" "That's an OTK!" "His playing style is brutal!" "I like his style!" "Way to go crazy, old man!"

Kawari's face went pale and she gulped as The big SATURN began emitting large amounts of smoke. It made loud clanking noises before exploding, sending light and fire everywhere.

"Double Impact." Lance muttered as Kawari was knocked backwards of the duel stage.

Brittany's Life Points: 0

Lance's Life Points: 1800

"Th-That's the game! The winner of this duel is none other then Lance T. Yonborg!" The crowd erupted in a series of cheers and boos. The cheers were directed at Lance, while the boos at Kawari. Two men in suits rushed over to her and helped her to her feet.

"The crowd's going berserk, we have go get out of here!" One of them muttered. Already Kawari could hear angry screams and the trampling of feet. She quickly rushed for the tunnel she had entered in, but the angry fans had already rushed over it. She heard screams of money and statistics, as well as derogatory names and swears.

The stadium security couldn't control the crowd. At least one hundred people were rushing after her. The two men pulled out their guns and pointed them at the crowd. Some stopped, but some kept running. Kawari lashed out as she heard gunshots, but there were too many of them, and the crowd overwhelmed her like a sea of rage.

Kawari sat with her head down, her wig now gone, with her disorderly black hair hanging over her face.

"I really did try. I tried and I tried and I tried but they just wouldn't listen! They said that they would know who you were, that it would ruin everything! I'm sorry, I'm really sorry!" The skinny man from earlier said desperately as he paced in front of Kawari.

She was sitting in the locker room at the end of the tunnel with nothing but a towel rapped around her body. Large gashes were visible on her arms and legs, and a few on her neck and back.

"They say that the final move Lance pulled and how hyped the duel was is what made the crowd go wild. At least, that's what they said on the news. I know this wouldn't have happened if you had your own deck, I cant even tell you how sorry I am."

Kawari looked up at him. Both eyes were swollen and black, and she had gashes on her left cheek from where someone had clawed at her. There was dried blood all over her nose, and she had a large bandage on her forehead.

"Do you have any idea what its like to be attacked by one hundred people? Do you know what its like to fight off a wave of human bodies? How about what its like to be beaten senseless, or have your cloths ripped off, or LOSE to the man who murdered someone you care about! HUH! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT'S LIKE?"

The man bit his lower lip as though he was debating whether or not to say something. "Look, they said that they've confirmed that he's not the guy." Kawari angrily jumped to her feet and began pacing, shaking her head the entire time. "They did a thorough investigation, its just a coincidence. There aren't any links between the two, there isn't any proof, its n-"

"No. No no no no no no no no NO! Don't feed me that bull****! I don't want to hear it anymore! That's him, do you hear me! That is him!" Kawari grabbed the man by his tie and pulled his face close to his.

"Listen to me, and listen to me good. Next time the Cabinet tells you I can't use my deck, you burn the one they give me, and you bring me my own god damned deck anyways! And then maybe Ill win! And then MAYBE ITLL BE YOUR ASS ON THE LINE INSTEAD OF MINE! HOW DOES THAT SOUND!" The man shivered with fear as Kawari released him.

She stormed off towards the door. "And tell them that if they're going to give me an alias, to turn me into something besides a DAMN PANSY!" She yelled as she smashed a garbage can next to the door.

The man sat there shaking with fear. It wasn't what Kawari said, or her actions that scared him. It was how she said it. After losing her husband, her baby, losing to the man responsible for her husband's death, and getting beaten to a pulp and stripped of her cloths on TV. in front of millions, she didn't shed a single tear.

He shook with fear, because the only thing he felt inside of her was complete and utter rage. She didn't cry, she didn't break down in shock, or let fear overtake her. She weathered it all, and came out looking sturdy and strong, and feeling incredibly angry.

This week's custom cards

Prototype In

[Normal Spell]

Select and activate one of the following effects:

Tribute 1 Machine-type monster to special summon 1 "Machine King Prototype" from your deck

Tribute 1 "Machine King Prototype" to special summon 1 "Machine King" from your deck

Tribute 1 "Machine King" to special summon 1 "Perfect Machine King" from your deck

Junk Workshop

[Normal Spell]

Special summon 1 machine type monster from your graveyard in attack position with its attack and defense halved. The monster summoned with this effect cannot be tributed for a tribute summon, or be used in a synchro summon.

Spare Parts Garage

[Normal Trap]

Tribute 1 machine type monster on your side of the field. Until the end of your next turn, all damage done to a machine type monster on your side of the field is reduced to 0, and you cannot take damage from a battle involving a machine type monster. All effect damage done to your life points by the effects of machine type monsters is reduced to 0 until your next endphase.

Faulty Engine

[Normal Trap]

When this card is sent to the graveyard, send it to your opponents graveyard. While this card is in the graveyard, you opponent can remove 1 machine type monster in their graveyard from play to force you to activate the following effect

Destroy 1 Machine type monster on your opponents side of the field.

I dunno if I slowed things down any more, but I did mean for it to be sort of a fast-paced flashback type of setting. I didnt want to give away too much because I plan to reference back to all of this later and give a little more information on a few things, so I wanted to write it in a way where it would be moving fast, and still leave many questions unanswered

I know, I know. Vac is a level 6 fairy. I originally intended for Kawari to summon Lightlord Angel Cherubim, but it had 100 more attack then I wanted. I ended up stumbling across Vac with his perfect 2200 attack and adding him, only to learn that he was a level 6 fairy. Still, nothing really would have changed. Lance just wouldnt have attacked, and Kawari would have gotten a different fairy besides Joan with Miracle Arrival, and maybe done 600-1200 more with Athena. Nothing game changing though


	5. The Trouble with the Past 2

Pro League Circuit!

Chapter 8: The Trouble with the Past (2)

Soutou could barely hear the TV as he ate his cereal. The crunching of his food drowned out whatever the newswoman was saying. He wasn't really watching TV though. He was more focused on finishing his breakfast so he could start the day.

"Victory Dragon." He heard over the crunching, and his eyes lit up. Soutou put his bowl down and grabbed the remote, hitting the volume button for a few seconds before releasing it.

"Today were here with the young man who just pulled the elusive Victory Dragon in a pack! Industrial Illusions announced the random release of this card over 8 months ago. Now that it has finally been pulled, this young boy has become the first, and the last, person to posses this rare card." The newswoman said as she paced in front of a small house.

The camera turned and focused on a family of three standing on the front porch. There was a father, a mother, and a young boy around the age of 8. He had a huge grin going from ear to ear, and Soutou could see a card in his hand.

"We were very excited when our son told us what happened." The father said happily. "Although we don't have a lot of money, we could never ask him to trade or sell something this valuable. We can only be thankful that his birthday present this year turned out to be really special, unforgettable really."

"We've always wanted to get him something he could really enjoy. It seems like we got really lucky this year and were able to give him that." The mother said, her voice shaking as though she were on the verge of tears. The newswoman kneeled down and held her microphone to the boy.

"And what's your name, lucky man?" She said in a very baby-ish voice. "Shinsei Konjou! I'm going to be the next king of duelists!" He said as he threw a fist into the air. Everyone laughed as he did.

"And what do you plan on doing with your new card Shinsei?" The newswoman asked as she put the microphone in front of his face once more. "From now on, Victory Dragon is going to be my #1 ace partner! With him, I can one day enter the Pro Leagues and become the best duelist ever!"

"Well, there you have it everyone. Best of luck to Shinsei and the rest of the Konjou family, now back to you Matsumoto."

Soutou turned the TV off. Heh, what a nice kid. He thought to himself as he put his jacket on. Reminds me a little of myself. Its good to see that Victory Dragon went to a deserving person.

"Now, if we refer to the police report filed on July 17th this year, you'll see that the police recorded that the duelist utilized a Frembell deck." Soutou explained to the courtroom. "The man behind this attack was unknown, but he did leave behind quite a number of clues."

"Objection!" The defense attorney shouted as he stood up from his seat. "Your honor, this police report is irrelevant to the case!" The judge tapped his gavel. "Over ruled, I'll allow the prosecution to continue." Soutou nodded to the judge.

"Now, as you can see from these pictures, marks were left on his unfortunate opponent from the electric duel sensors used by this man." He said as he held up an enlarged picture of the injuries. "Now, forensics then discovered the shape and design of the inside ring of said sensors…." Soutou trailed off and walked back to his table, where he picked up another picture.

"As you can see from these pictures, the duel sensors found in Mr. Kusemono's house have a design that is an exact match to the marks left on the victim!" Soutou yelled. "Objection! Your honor, my opponent is using facts and evidence that were illegally obtained from my client, and cannot be used as evidence in this courtroom!"

"Accepted. Mr. Kougi, drop this matter at once. And let the record show that this information is irrelevant to the case." Soutou slammed a hand on the desk. "Irrelevant! The deck that was also confiscated proved to be Frembell deck of the same build described by eyewitnesses! Its entirely relevant!"

"Objection! Your honor this man is using objects that he has stolen from Mr. Kusemono as evidence!" The defense attorney screamed. "Stole! They were laying in plain sight when the defendant allowed me to enter his household!" Soutou retorted. "And when you took them from his household without a warrant or his consent, you stole from him, meaning-!"

"ENOUGH!" The judge yelled as he cracked his gravel. "Mr. Kougi it was agreed well before this trial that those objects were not to be used as evidence in this courtroom, and the only reason I allowed you to continue with your prosecution up until this point is because I thought that you might not direct your case in a direction that was clearly off limits! And you still continued even after I advised you against it! Now the jury has been spoiled because of you, which means that the decision now rests with me."

Soutou glared at the Judge with a hatred in his eyes. "So now you'll let this criminal walk, just like that?" He spat. The judge shook his head and rubbed his forehead. "Mr. Kougi, I applaud your sense of justice. I really do. But the fact of the matter is that you have nothing to convict this man on. Under these circumstances, I have no choice but to rule in favor of the defendant." The judge gave his gavel one last smack. "Court adjourned."

A red haired woman who had been sitting next to Soutou burst into tears. She lifted her hands to cover her face and attempted to stifle her weeping. Soutou looked over at the table next to him. A bald man in an orange prison jumpsuit was smiling at him. He had black flames tattooed around the sides of his head. "Looks like I get out scoff-free. Later, Soutou." He said as two guards led him out of the courtroom.

Soutou dropped into his seat and let out a huge sigh. He put a hand on the woman next to him's shoulder. "I'm sorry ma'am, I-" She grabbed his hand. "No, please don't. You did a wonderful job. Everyone told me that I wasn't going to win. That they didn't have enough on him…. You're the only person who went above and beyond to find evidence, to make some attempt at catching him. Maybe at least now people will see what an evil person he is… I know that Anfea would be very thankful if she were with us right now…"

Unable to contain herself, the woman broke out into tears again. Soutou gripped her hand even harder as the courtroom began to empty. That damn guy…. I'm going to catch him no matter what it takes…. Soutou slammed a fist into the table. No matter what the cost…

"So the judge let him walk, just like that, huh?"

Soutou nodded and took a sip of his coffee. "Well, I tell ya, its getting harder and harder to put guys away nowadays. You've gotta have proof of what they did to a "T" or they'll slip away." The man sitting behind a newspaper across from him said.

"That's because everyone's too afraid to just say "There's overwhelming proof that it was you, have a nice day in jail. If they would just skip all of this impeding evidence bull-"

"Hey hey, don't go all radical on me Soutou." The main behind the paper interrupted. "After all, I should be more angry about all this then you. I'm the one who has to bust my ass catching those guys." The man lowered the newspaper and grinned. "Though I admit, that part of it is pretty fun."

He was the exact opposite of Soutou in almost every way. Instead of brown eyes he had eyes that were very dark blue, and wore no glasses, or even contacts. His hair was combed over to the right and light blonde, unlike Soutou's long black hair. And although Soutou had nice teeth, the man's teeth sparkled like porcelain when he smiled.

Soutou shook his head. "Yeah, well, I'm the one who gets blamed when they walk. And I can tell you right now my job is a hell of a lot harder then yours is Koto." Koto chuckled. "Yeah right! You wouldn't last a day hunting down criminals, getting shot at, getting blown up."

"Thank you." He said to the waitress as she refilled his cup of coffee. He blew on it a little to cool it down and took a sip. "Ahh, black. Just the way I like it." He mumbled as he took another sip. He then set the coffee off to the side and folded his hands. "But lets be serious for a minute here Soutou."

Soutou looked up from his own cup of coffee and met Koto's eyes. He could tell that he really did want to be serious and set his cup to the side as well. "Alright, lets." He responded.

"Look, Soutou, you and I have a really good relationship. Were partners, damn good ones at that. I know we don't work together, but I always give you the cases of the guys I lock up so that you can put 'em away for good." There was a long pause. Soutou nodded for Koto to continue.

"Ugh, your not getting what I'm saying, so I'm just going to say it. You haven't been doing your job lately. I mean, I-" Koto was cut off by a groan from Soutou as he rolled his eyes.

"You know, you-" Soutou began, only to be cut off by Koto.

"No no! Listen, hear me out alright? I mean, it's my job to do the fieldwork and let you do the lawyer-ish stuff. Now, the whole thing falls apart when you go stomping over to the witnesses house, bust in, and-"

"I didn't bust in, I was invited in." Soutou interrupted.

This time Koto groaned. "You were impersonating a health inspector! If it weren't for me, and your court record you'd be doing time for that right now! If you had come to me, I could have gotten a warrant, and officially taken the stuff into custody so that you could use it in your court case. It doesn't work when you get the stuff yourself and then bring it to me. You've been taking the law into your own hands lately, and its starting to scare me. I need you to settle down, and relax, even if you don't trust the system as much as you used to. I need you to trust me, and trust that everything will work out, ok?"

Soutou opened his mouth to protest, then closed it. "It's just like you to cut me off and only think of your side, bro. It's not really fair for me to just go with whatever you say without offering any form of a rebuttal."

"I know, I know. But I'm not arguing with you here, I'm asking you to do me a favor. I do you a lot of favors, so its only fair that you do this one for me, right?"

Soutou took a deep breath and let it out. "Alright fine. From now on, I'll go to you on anything involving fieldwork." Koto smiled and gave Soutou a hug from across the table.

"Now your starting to sound a little more like the little brother I know." Koto said happily. Soutou grinned slightly and hugged Koto back. Even though he felt a little better, he couldn't grin as much as Koto was now. His thoughts had only been slightly deterred from his rage. It was still inside him, gathering, and waiting for an outlet.

Soutou slumped back in his chair and let out a sigh. He lifted a hand and rubbed his forehead and eyes in an attempt to alleviate his headache.

He hadn't left his house in the three days since the day of the court trial. All he did was read book, after book, after book, looking for some sort of loophole or catch in the system he could use to get a conviction out of the judge. And every time he came to the end of the book without a solution he got even angrier.

As he sat there rubbing his head all he could think of was the injustice of the situation. A helpless girl gets shocked, beaten, and ***** to death, and the criminal is so lucky that not a trace of DNA is found on the scene. He goes to his apartment and gets the evidence needed to convict him, and everyone turns a blind eye to it.

"What's left?" He asked himself aloud. "All that's left if a grieving mother, and a murderer tossed back on the streets. Unfair…." Soutou felt the rage building inside of him. "It's UNFAIR!" He yelled. He felt a cool sensation rush over him as he inhaled. He held it in for a few minutes and then breathed out.

I've got to calm down…. Koto was right, getting angry like this is pointless. I just have to relax, and focus on my job…. As Soutou reminded himself of his job, his thoughts drifted back to the courtroom. He felt his rage welling up inside of him again. This time, he was unable to control it. Soutou picked up his book and chucked it at his TV. It hit the power button and the TV sparked to life.

"-With unfortunate news." The newswoman said as she walked quickly towards a burning house. "Firefighters say that the mother and child were pulled from the flames, but the father has yet to be found."

Soutou sat up and watched intently as a woman and a child were rushed to an ambulance. "That's…!" "The police are reporting that the fire was caused by a masked burglar who broke into the house. The father, Mr. Konjou attempted to stop him and was shot twice in the chest…. The burglar continued into the house and beat the mother and child…. Until unconscious. The police are also reporting that although no money or jewelry was taken, he did get away with the one of a kind "Victory Dragon" duel monster card, with an estimated value of 7.5 million yen."

Soutou's eyes widened as he watched the scene unfold. "Wait, I've just been told that the father has been located! Its undetermined if his gunshot wounds are fatal, but he is breathing! He-" The newswoman screamed as one end of the small house exploded, sending large chunks of wood and other debris into the air. She shrieked once more as someone pointed out the body of a firefighter flying through the air.

The newswoman had tears in her eyes as she turned back to the camera. "This is Channel 7 ne-"

Soutou turned the TV off. He stared blankly, wide eyed at the screen as though the TV were still on. He ran his hands through his hair and took in a deep breath. Just as he was about to breathe out he rose his hands high into the air and brought them crashing down on the wooden table in front of it, smashing it in half.

"Enough." He said quietly to himself. "ENOUGH!" Soutou stood up and kicked the now broken table. I'm sick of this! Sick of all of it! I wont stand by anymore while people idly let crime do as it pleases! I'm taking this matter into my own hands!

A week after the incident Soutou called Koto and asked him to locate the family that he had seen on TV. Koto was suspicious of what Soutou was doing at first, but after a long argument Soutou was eventually able to convince him to give out the hospital's address.

In the 30 minutes it took to reach the hospital, and while he was driving Soutou formulated a rough plan on how he was going to approach the two. It wasn't very crafty, or well thought out. But it would get him close enough to make contact with the two.

He took a deep breath as he pulled into the parking lot. He was lucky enough to get a spot near the front of the hospital. He messed his hair up abit and loosened his tie before stepping out of the car and quickly walking into the hospital.

As he half-walked half sprinted up to the front counter, head's turned to see the flustered Soutou. The nurse at the front desk smiled at him as he stopped at the counter. "Can I help you?" She asked with a huge grin on her face.

Soutou nodded and started breathing heavily. "Yes, yes I'm here to see my sister. Last name Konjou. Can you please tell me what room she's in?" The woman's smile disappeared. "Oh…. Oh dear…. I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't let you see her right now. She's in very bad condition right now… but if your brother I'm sure I can take you to her for a short visit. Can I see your ID?"

Soutou began patting his pockets, reaching into them and turning them inside out looking for something. "I-I know I have it somewhere. I just had it, where is it!" He said angrily. The nurse made a ticking noise with her tongue. "Oh dear. You look like a mess. You must be pretty worried about her, huh?" The nurse asked sadly. Soutou nodded his head. "I got on a plane from England as soon as I heard the news. I must have left my wallet in my hotel room…." The nurse got up from behind the desk and grabbed Soutou's arm. "Don't worry dear, you look like you've been doing enough of that lately. Let's go, I'll take you to see her." Soutou nodded and allowed the nurse to lead him through the hospital.

As the nurse began to lead Soutou to the urgent care rooms, he started to sweat. Damnit, this isn't good. If her or her husband arent even conscious I wont be able to talk to them. Without an ID next time I wont be able to get in again. The nurse finally stopped in front of one of the rooms and opened the door.

"Mrs. Konjou? Your brother is here to see you." The nurse said happily as she stepped into the room with Soutou at her side. Mrs. Konjou put the book down she was reading and looked up with a puzzled expression. "What?" She said confusedly as Soutou entered the room. "Wait, no! I don't have a brother. Who is this man?" She exclaimed as she began pushing herself back against the wall behind her bed.

The nurse looked at Soutou with an expression of shock. Soutou broke out of her grip on his arm and walked over to Mrs. Konjou. "Get back!" She yelled as she continued to back against the wall. "Mrs. Konjou, please calm down! My name is Soutou Kougi, I'm a lawyer! I want to help you." Mrs. Konjou calmed down once Soutou said he was a lawyer.

"I'm still calling security!" The nurse said as she stormed out of the room. "No, stop!" Mrs. Konjou called to the nurse. "It's fine, let him stay." The nurse stopped and walked back in. "Mrs. Konjou, I really don-" "I don't care, let him stay." She said sternly. The nurse sighed. "Fine. He can stay until I get your doctor's opinion about this." Without another word she left.

Soutou pulled a business card out of his pocket and gave it to Mrs. Konjou. She eyed it over and handed it back to him. "What are you looking for, Mr. Kougi?" She asked coldly. "It must have been important if you had to force your way in here like this."

"I'm sorry for having to do that." Soutou said sincerely. "But I want to help you. I want to help you catch the man responsible for this." Mrs. Konjou shook her head. "The police are already doing everything they can to catch the man." Soutou looked over at the door to make sure it was closed.

"I know that the police say they're doing everything they can, but I can do more for you. I can send this man to prison for a very long time. I can bring him to justice." Mrs. Konjou eyed him over suspiciously. "We don't have any money. We can't afford to pay you." Soutou nodded. "I understand that. I just need you to tell me everything that happened that night."

Mrs. Konjou bit her lower lip as her lower lip curled. Tears began forming in her eyes as she tried to speak without crying. "I-it was a Saturday night…." she said, taking a deep breath before continuing more steadily. "We don't have a lot of money, but we try to spend Saturdays together doing family activities. This weekend we were going to camp out in the back yard."

She wiped a tear out of the corner of her eye. "Me and Shinsei were out back setting everything up and waiting for his father to come home. I had just gotten a fire going when he showed up….." Mrs. Konjou sobbed, unable to go on. She started taking deep breaths in order to calm herself down. Soutou put a hand on her back and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to her. "The man that stole Victory Dragon?" He asked. She nodded.

"I knew it would happen." She sniffed as she wiped her eyes. "Our neighborhood has a lot of crime, most of it is theft. Every night I prayed that we would be safe. That someone wouldn't come along and steal my sons dreams away… it was so awful, what he did…" She handed the handkerchief back to Soutou. "What did he do, Mrs. Konjou?" He asked quietly.

"He came out of nowhere…. He knocked me to the ground, and then went after Shinsei. He pinned him down and attached these metal things to his body. He told him to duel him, and that if he won he would leave. I tried to talk him out of it. I offered the man money, possessions, anything if he would leave us alone. He refused, and he hit me over the head with something hard, it might have been his fist. I was dead set against the entire thing, but my son…."

"I wont let you do this to my family!" Shinsei declared as he raised his duel disk. "As a fellow duelist, I accept your challenge!"

A massive muscular man stood across from Shinsei. He wore a black tank top and green camouflage pants. His eyes were an odd shining yellow, filled with rage, greed, and destruction. His hair too was a dirty blonde, spiked up all over.

"Hehehe, you've got some guts kid. But you have to recognize that now that you've accepted this duel, I aint goin easy on ya. Get ready to feel pain like you've never felt before!" The man had similar metal bands attached to his body as well.

"I don't care! I wont let you do as you please! Its my turn, draw!" Shinsei enthusiastically pulled a card off of the top of his deck. "I activate my spell card, Frontline Base! With this card, I can summon a union monster once per turn! I'll then summon my Dark Blade in attack position! Then, with Frontline Base's effect, I can special summon Pitch-Dark Dragon in attack position!"

The man laughed. "Hah! Is this all that trash like you can afford? I bet to you it seems like you've got some strong monsters there!" He grinned. "But they're just a bunch of weak pieces of trash." Shinsei growled. "Don't look down on my monsters! Alone they might be weak, but when they join together…. Dark Blade and Pitch-Dark Dragon, union formation!"

The black knight jumped into the air, and the small black dragon flew after it. It hovered underneath the knight as it began to fall. The night landed on the dragons back and the dragon let out a roar.

"When Pitch-Dark Dragon is equipped to Dark Blade, his attack is increased by 400! (Attack: 2200) Also, Dark Blade will do piercing damage! I place two cards facedown, turn end!"

The man laughed. "So that's it, huh? My turn, draw! I activate my spell card, Broken Earth! The face up monster on your side of the field with the lowest attack will be destroyed!"

"Pitch-Dark Dragon's effect will activate! When the monster equipped with him would be destroyed, Pitch-Dark Dragon is destroyed instead!" The ground began cracking and shaking as Dark Blade dismounted the black dragon. It shrieked before dropping out of the sky into the chasm that had formed. The chasm closed, destroying Shinsei's monster.

"Hahahahah! You probably can't afford cards like these, can you? How can someone like you, who can't afford anything but trash cards, possess Victory Dragon!" The man laughed. "Shut up!" Shinsei yelled. "Victory Dragon and I are partners! No matter what you say, I'll definitely beat you with him!"

"Let's see then. I summon Sapphire Dragon in attack position! Sapphire Dragon, attack his Dark Blade! Sapphire Blaze!" The man's shining blue dragon let out a jet of blue flame that washed over Shinsei's black knight and destroyed it.

Shinsei's Life points: 3900

?'s Life points: 4000

Shinsei yelled as electricity began coursing through his entire body. Sparks flew out of the metal bands on his arms, legs, and neck. He dropped to the ground and screamed as his entire body shook. The man began laughing. "Oh, did I forget to mention it to you? These bands are the same ones used in underground dueling. If your life points are modified, they'll shock you equal to how great the change is! Even if you try to gain a large amount of life points, you'll still be filled with unbelievable pain!"

"Shinsei!" Mrs. Konjou yelled frantically as her son writhed in pain. "Please, stop this! Do you want the card? We'll give you the card, just leave us alone!" She pleaded. "Shut it, *****! This is a duel for gods sake! There aint no negotiating in a duel! Just keep your mouth closed and watch as I destroy your son!" Mrs. Konjou grabbed her hair as she sobbed. "Shinsei…."

Shinsei continued to cry even after the electricity had subsided. "This is the real world, kid! In underground duels there is no stalling, no saving yourself with cheap tricks! There is only fighting and pain! A piece of trash like you should remember this well! With that ****ty deck of yours, the pro league is surely off limits! The only place for you to go from here is hell!"

Shinsei sniffed and slowly climbed to his feet. "I-I won't listen to you! Your just a bully! Your cards don't have any heart or life to them! I'll show you what it means to trust in your deck! As long as I believe in the heart of the cards, I can win!"

"Try it then! Lets see how far trusting your cards goes! I place one card facedown! Turn end!" Shinsei snapped a card off of his deck. "Its my turn, draw!" Shinsei looked over his hand before inserting one card into his duel disk. "I play my spell card, Foolish Burial! This card will send Kiryu from my deck to the graveyard!"

"Seems like you've got a gem or two in that deck." The man said as Shinsei flipped through his deck. "Then I activate my facedown card, Birthright! This will special summon 1 normal monster in my graveyard! I summon my Dark Blade to the field!"

"What do you plan on doing with that weak guy, huh?" The man asked. Shinsei wagged a finger at him. "He isn't weak! I'll show you how strong my monsters are! I activate my facedown card, Roll Out! This card will equip the Kiryu in my graveyard to my Dark Blade!"

Dark Blade jumped into the air once again as a giant red dragon flew out of Shinsei's graveyard and hovered beneath him. Dark Blade landed on its back and began spinning his swords as the dragon screeched.

"When Kiryu is equipped to Dark Blade, he gains 900 attack points!" (Attack: 2700) The man gave Shinsei a cocky smile. "Now that's better. Your not half bad for a weak little kid. Now, why don't you try and hit me? C'mon, do a little damage! It's the least you can do to repay me, right?"

Shinsei started to sweat as he debated whether or not to attack. "I-I…that facedown card….I end my turn!" The man burst out laughing as Shinsei declared the end of his turn. "Not as good as I thought I guess! I can't believe you fell for such an obvious bluff! Now, for my turn! Draw!"

"Now, I'll show you my strongest monster! I activate my spell card, Adamantine Sword Revival! By tributing 1 Dragon type monster on my side of the field, I can summon 1 "Diamond Head Dragon" from my deck in attack position!"

"I tribute Sapphire Dragon! C'mon, Diamond Head Dragon!" Shinsei began to shake with fear as the man's dragon vanished in a beam of white light. The beam began to expand until a giant green dragon with large sparking diamond spikes going from its head to its tail appeared. (Attack: 2900)

Diamond Head Dragon's attack will be equal to the attack of the tributed monster +1000. That's more then enough to destroy your Dark Blade. "Go, Diamond Head Dragon! Attack his Dark Blade! Diamond Crusher!" The massive dragon roared and lifted its diamond-spike studded tail high into the air. It swung down at Dark Blade with incredible force. Dark Blade quickly dismounted Kiryu and jumped onto Shinsei's field. The dragon shrieked as Diamond Head Dragon's tail massacred it.

Shinsei's Life Points: 3700

?'s Life Points: 4000

Shinsei began shrieking as his body once again began coursing with electricity. The man cackled at the sight of his writhing body. "I place one card facedown. Then my turn ends."

Shinsei remained motionless as his mother rushed over to him. "Shinsei, Shinsei! Are you ok honey? Its alright, it's going to be alright!" She said to him as he slowly regained consciousness. "Heh. Good, good. I was hoping that little bit of damage wouldn't kill you. Now we can keep having fun, right?" The man laughed

"Shinsei, its ok! You don't have to do this anymore! I'm proud of you for trying, but you can't get hurt like this! We have to go, I'm sorry!" The man frowned. "Hold on there. Once a duel has started you can't just get up and leave." He held up a small remote to the two and grinned. "In this case, its not a matter of honor. If I press this button, both of our duel shock systems will go off at high power. Do you think your son will be able to withstand it after being hurt this much by its lowest settings?

Mrs. Konjou's face went pale as she heard this. "N…..no…." Shinsei grabbed his mother's hand. "Mommy, its ok." He said. She looked down at him, and he was smiling up at her. "I know that your afraid, but its ok. I know that I'm only 10 years old…. I'm not the best duelist, and I have a lot to learn." He let go of her hand and took a few steps forward. "But if there's one thing that I know, its that a true duelist can do anything if he believes in his cards. A true duelist doesn't do things like that man does. A true duelist doesn't walk away from a challenge."

Shinsei drew a card off of his deck. "A true duelist doesn't treat other people like this! A true duelist doesn't look down on any cards! A true duelist… defeats bad guys like this one!" He yelled. The man's cocky attitude died down. "What's this garbage that your spewing, little kid? Don't act like you know a damn thing about dueling!"

"I play my spell card, Union of Souls! This card removes all of my union monsters in my graveyard from the game! Then I can draw cards equal to the number I remove! I remove Pitch-Dark Dragon and Kiryu to draw two cards!"

"I activate my spell card, Flying Dragon Whirl! By sending 4 Dragon type monsters from my deck to the graveyard, Dark Blade will gain 1200 attack points this turn!" (Attack: 3000)

Dark Blade crossed his dual swords and began pulsing with energy as his attack points rose. The man took a step backwards. "Impressive. But do you think that's enough to stop me? After all, I do have 2 cards facedown. One of them could be a trap to destroy your monster." Shinsei hesitated for a moment before pointing a finger at Diamond Head Dragon. "Dark Blade! Attack Diamond Head Dragon! Flying Dragon Whirl!"

Dark Blade rushed forward and jumped into the air. As he jumped, he began stabbing forward with his swords. He began spinning as a shadowy image of a dragon appeared around him. Suddenly he rocketed forward at Diamond Head Dragon, the image of the dragon now surrounding him lashing out at the beast angrily.

"I activate my trap card!" Shinsei's eyes widened. "No!" He yelled as the man's facedown card revealed itself. "Dragon's Descent! This card will special summon 1 level 4 or lower Dragon type monster from my hand! I'll summon Ruby Dragon from my hand in attack position!"

Shinsei let out a sigh of relief. "But Dark Blade's attack will continue!" He declared. The man grinned. "Now, my other facedown trap! Dragon's Cry! This card will stop you from battling when I have a level 4 or lower Dragon type monster on my field! Your attack is useless!"

Dark Blade stopped spinning, and the dragon image surrounding him vanished. "Hahahaha! Your attack was useless! Now on my next turn I'll just summon another monster and finish you!" Shinsei growled as Dark Blade returned to his field. "I activate the effect of Relief Dragon in my graveyard! By tributing 1 monster on my field, I can special summon him from my graveyard!"

A fat-looking dragon with small wings climbed out of Shinsei's graveyard and appeared on his field. It bowed to Dark Blade before Dark Blade vanished in a bright light. (Defense: 1600)

"I place two cards facedown! Turn end!" The man was grinning like crazy as he drew a card. "So much for your big talk earlier, huh? In the end you couldn't do anything. Now all I have to do is summon a monster and defeat you. Even if I don't draw one, you probably won't be able to handle any more then 500 damage."

"Your wrong! My belief in my deck will save me! Just wait and see, I'll defiantly beat you!" The man furrowed his brow. "Enough with this bullcrap! Money, power, force! These are the things it takes to win a duel! These are the qualities of a duelist! If you waste time with stupid things like hope, you won't accomplish anything! I play my spell card, Pot of Greed! This card allows me to draw two cards from my deck!"

The man swiped two more cards off of his deck. "Your pretty lucky that I didn't draw any monsters. In that case, I'll just shock you to death! Diamond Head Dragon, attack his Relief Dragon! Diamond Crusher!"

Shinsei ran backwards to avoid the impact as his monster was crushed beneath the massive dragon's tail. "When Relief Dragon is destroyed, I can summon 1 Dragon type monster with 500 attack or less from my deck in defense position! I summon my Hope Dragon in defense!" (Def: 1000)

"It's useless! No matter how much trash you summon, the result will always be the same! Ruby Dragon, attack his Hope Dragon! Ruby Flame Stream!" The shining red dragon shot a jet of ruby red flames at the glowing yellow dragon, destroying it with little effort.

"When Hope Dragon is destroyed, 1 "Last-Hope Dragon Token" is summoned to my field! Also, I'll use my facedown card, Dragon's Bond! This will special summon a Dragon from my deck when one on my field is destroyed! I summon Wish Dragon to the field in defense position!"

A small blueish dragon appeared next to Shinsei's shining dragon egg. "Three cards facedown, turn end. Take your final turn, boy! The duel will be over after your next draw!"

Please, deck. Please help me. I'm scared right now…. I'm so scared. I feel like I'm not doing something right… like I've messed up. I don't want to lose! I want to show this bad guy what it means to be a duelist!

"It's my turn!" Shinsei called as he drew his card. The man began laughing. "And now it's the end! I activate my trap card, Battle Mania! During this turn, you are forced to perform your battle phase and attack with all of your weak monsters!"

Shinsei smiled. "I'll gladly attack you! I activate Wish Dragon's effect! I tribute him to summon 2 Dragon Egg tokens in defense!" "Three monsters huh? I know what that means." The man said happily.

"That's right!' Shinsei declared. "I believed in the heart of the cards, and now they've responded back to me! I tribute all 3 of my tokens to summon my strongest monster, Victory Dragon!"

All three tokens began glowing yellow. The yellow light radiated off of them until the whole field was enveloped in light. When the light died down, a giant shining gold dragon was hovering above Shinsei. It was absolutely enormous, even bigger then Diamond Head Dragon, or even the house.

"Then I'll play my spell card, Shadow's Light! Victory Dragon is a dark monster, so now I can summon a Light monster from my deck with the same level! Come on out, Phantom Dragon!"

Even Shinsei's new cloudy dragon paled in comparison to the size of Victory Dragon. "Normally Shadow's Light would stop me from attacking this turn, but your Battle Mania forces me to battle!"

"But Ruby Dragon has the effect to switch itself to defense position when attacked." The man lied. "And Victory Dragon cannot match Diamond Head Dragon in attack points. You summoned your monsters in vain."

Shinsei smiled. "I don't think so! I activate the effect of my Raging Dragon that I sent to the graveyard with Flying Dragon Whirl! By removing him in the graveyard from the game, all of your monsters will lose 1000 defense points!"

A huge ghostly image of a red dragon shot out of Shinsei's graveyard and began recklessly charging towards both of the man's dragons. As it plowed through them, their defense points dropped. (Ruby Dragon's Defense: 900) (Sapphire Dragon's Defense: 1600)

"Its too bad he didn't reduce their attack. This duel is still mine." The man said, still upholding his cocky attitude. "That's what you think! Now my combo is complete! I activate my trap, Burst Breath! By tributing my Phantom Dragon, all of your monsters with under 2300 defense will be destroyed! That's all of them!"

Phantom Dragon slowly faded away. Victory Dragon then opened its mouth and began streaming fire down at the man's field. "I activate my trap, Altar for Tribute!" A blood-spattered table appeared underneath Diamond Dragon. A black blade appeared above it and sliced it in half. As its blood trickled over to the man, his life point's increased.

Shinsei's Life Points: 3700

?'s Life Points: 6900

"This will give me life points equal to Diamond Dragon's attack!" Shinsei gasped. "But, you said-" The man smiled as his entire body exploded with electricity. His body sparked and glowed as huge amounts of electricity coursed through his body. "That's right." He said with a smile on his face. "I'll take huge amounts of electricity through my body because of this. Although, your Victory Dragon's effect will reduce my life points to 0 when it does battle damage."

Shinsei nodded, still in shock. "Then why-" The man interrupted him with a laugh. "This is to show you how much stronger then you I am! This is to show you that someone as weak as you doesn't deserve such a monster like Victory Dragon! You cant even handle 100 points of electricity! But I can handle 29 times that amount! You are weak! You should just give up that card to me now and walk away with your life!"

Shinsei shook his head. "I wont listen to you anymore!" He yelled. "Me and Victory Dragon will show you our inseparable bonds! Victory Dragon, attack him directly! Victory Flame!"

Victory Dragon began charging a giant gold fireball. The man continued to smile even as the electricity subsided. "I activate my set card, Dark Wall of Air! All damage from direct attacks is reduced to zero!" The dragon unleashed its flames just as a dark mist surrounded the man, causing the fireball to glance off into the sky.

"But you only have one facedown card left! Unless you draw a monster, I'll just attack again next turn and win!" The man's other facedown card revealed itself. "Trap card open, Cross Heart. After a monster of yours attacks me directly, control of it will switch to me!"

Shinsei dropped to his knees. "I-impossible…." he said as his card shot over to the man's duel disk. He laughed as Victory Dragon appeared on his side of the field. "Now this is how it should be! With no cards left, I guess your turns over!"

He drew a card, but he didn't even look at it. "What was that about bonds? About the heart of the cards? About me being a terrible duelist? Where are your bonds now! Your monster easily betrayed you in your time of need. And now he'll end you! Victory Dragon, attack directly! Victory Flame!"

Shinsei screamed as the giant fireball blasted him backwards onto the ground. He didn't move, even as electricity coursed through his body. "Finish him with your effect, Victory Dragon! Blazing Victory!" The dragon opened its mouth once more and let out a stream f fire on Shinsei, causing even more electricity to course through his body. The man laughed as he pulled Victory Dragon off his duel disk and put it in his pocket.

"Shinsei!" His mother screamed as she knelt down next to him. She felt for a pulse and found one, but it was slow and irregular. "Shinsei….. Shinsei….." She cried.

"After that my husband showed up. He's strong but, this man was huge…. He didn't stand a chance… he beat my husband and threw him in the house. Then he took the fire pit and threw it inside as well. There was nothing I could do….."

Soutou's knuckles were white from clenching his hands. "Thank you." He said as calmly as he could. "I swear to you Mrs. Konjou, this won't end until I've taken care of this man. I will bring him to justice."

"Thank you." She said quietly. Soutou hesitated before asking his next question. "Can I see Shinsei?" Mrs. Konjou gave him a stern look. "He's very upset. I don't want you questioning him about this." Soutou shook his head. "I had no intentions of doing that. I only wanted to talk to him, duelist to duelist." Mrs. Konjou's expression softened. "I think he could use that right now. Thank you." Soutou nodded to her. "No, thank you. This is something I feel I have to do.

Notes:

- I know, I know. Union monsters are only supposed to protect from destruction through battle. Some protect from effects as well though, and I liked that better then just working on battle destruction.

- Ruby Dragon can't switch to defense. The man was lying just so he could trick Shinsei

- Victory Dragon's effect has been edited for the purpose of this fic. I feel that its new effect makes it one hell of a lot more powerful, making it worthy of its name. Plus theres only 1 duel matches, not 3

-I'm pretty sure that the Wikia has the wrong effects for Dark Wall of Air and Cross Heart. A very reliable game when it comes to card translations has the effects as I described them in this chapter. And since said effects make the duel work just the way I wanted it to, I think I'll leave them as is.

- Submitting this kinda late at night. I wanted to add a little more, but I feel that the chunk will work just as well next chapter (this ones about as long as most chapters, and to finish the entire back story it would double or triple in size). So I'm going to cut it here and get right to work on next chapter ASAP

-School has started up again, hence the large gap in submission time. I'm pumped for next chapter though, so I'll get to it as fast as possible.

This chapter's custom cards

Union of Souls

[Normal Spell]

Remove all "union" monsters in your graveyard from the game. Draw cards form your deck equal to the number removed

Relief Dragon

Light/Dragon/Level 4/Attack: 500/Defense: 1600

By sending 1 face up level 4 or lower monster on your side of the field to the graveyard, special summon this monster from your graveyard. When this monster is destroyed as a result of battle, special summon 1 Dragon type monster from your deck with 500 attack or less

Hope Dragon

Light/Dragon/Level 2/Attack: 300/Defense: 1000

When this monster is destroyed as a result of battle, special summon 1 "Last-Hope Dragon Token(Light/Dragon/Level 1/Attack: 0 Defense: 0)" To your side of the field in defense position. This monster cannot be destroyed in battle with monsters with over 2000 attack. All piercing damage done to your life points from this monster battling is reduced to 0.

Raging Dragon

Fire/Dragon/Level 7/Attack: 2700/Defense: 200

This monster cannot be special summoned. This monster inflicts piercing damage. This monster must attack during each of your turns if able to. By removing this monster in your graveyard from the game, decrease the defense of all monsters on your opponents side of the field by 1000 points.


	6. The Trouble with the Past 3

Pro League Circuit!

Chapter 9: The Trouble with the Past (3)

Soutou put his hand on the door handle and turned it. He hesitated as he was about to open it. Suddenly Soutou let go of the handle and took a few steps back. He looked over at the window to Shinsei's room. The blinds were down and closed. He remembered Mrs. Konjou's recount of Shinsei's duel with the Shinseki.

"But you only have one facedown card left! Unless you draw a monster, I'll just attack again next turn and win!" Shinsei declared confidently. The man's other facedown card revealed itself. "Trap card open, Cross Heart. After a monster of yours attacks me directly, control of it will switch to me!"

Shinsei dropped to his knees. "I-impossible…." he said as his card shot over to the man's duel disk. He laughed as Victory Dragon appeared on his side of the field. "Now this is how it should be! With no cards left, I guess your turns over!"

He drew a card, but he didn't even look at it. "What was that about bonds? About the heart of the cards? About me being a terrible duelist? Where are your bonds now! Your monster easily betrayed you in your time of need. And now he'll end you! Victory Dragon, attack directly! Victory Flame!"

Shinsei screamed as the giant fireball blasted him backwards onto the ground. He didn't move, even as electricity coursed through his body. "Finish him with your effect, Victory Dragon! Blazing Victory!" The dragon opened its mouth once more and let out a stream f fire on Shinsei, causing even more electricity to course through his body. The man laughed as he pulled Victory Dragon off his duel disk and put it in his pocket.

"Shinsei!" His mother screamed as she knelt down next to him. She felt for a pulse and found one, but it was slow and irregular. "Shinsei….. Shinsei….." She cried

Soutou sat down in a chair that was next too the door. He didn't know if Shinsei was asleep, or unconscious, or possibly in a coma. I have no idea what kind of situation he's in. All I know is that this boy believes strongly in the will of a duelist… and that in the end his beliefs were crushed by that thief….

Soutou confidently put his hand on the door handle and turned it. He slowly opened the door. I have to confront him as a duelist and restore his spirit…

Soutou wavered slightly when he saw Shinsei. He was laying in bed with several machines hooked up to his body. He had a breathing tube in his nose, and was currently sitting up and playing video games.

However, it wasn't the medical equipment that made him look like an entirely different boy then the one Soutou saw on the news. It was his body. His skin was pale white, and he had large black rings around his eyes, as though he hadn't been sleeping. In some places Soutou could see large chunks of his light brown hair. In others, he was bald. His face bore an expression of hate and anger. Soutou almost trembled as he approached the young man.

Shinsei didn't even glance at Soutou as he walked up to his bed. "Hello Shinsei." Soutou said pleasantly as he knelt next to the bed. Shinsei still refused to look at him. "What do you want?" He spat, his voice heavy with malice. Soutou maintained his pleasant expression. "Just to talk, that's all." He said with a smile on his face.

Shinsei turned his game off and put it on the nightstand next to his bed. Soutou now had his attention. "About what? Are you a police officer? I don't want to talk about that anymore." He said angrily. "No no, I'm not a police officer. I'm a lawyer." Soutou explained.

"But you know, after I got out of law school I dueled in the Pro Leagues for a few years. You might have been too young to remember me, I was the A-" "SHUT UP!" Soutou was interrupted by Shinsei's scream. "I don't want to hear about dueling ever ever ever ever EVER again! It's a stupid game for stupid people!" He yelled. Shinsei crossed his arms and turned onto his sides.

Soutou's kindness vanished and was replaced by sadness. "I know that your angry Shinsei. But I can see that deep down, the duelist inside of you is still there. Right now your crying out in pain because of what happened. Your love for the game has been replaced with spite for it."

Shinsei didn't respond. Soutou put a hand on his back. "You weren't wrong, Shinsei. Everything you said during that duel was true. I'm sorry that that man's vile tactics defeated you. It's always painful when one of your monster's is taken. It happens to everyone. And when it does, all you can think of is how much it hurts to see your own monster turning against you, damaging you. Tearing at the bonds you've formed. All you can think of is 'How is it fair? I'm the one who shares ties with my monster. I'm the one who did everything I could to summon it, protect it, win with it.'"

"But you have to understand that your monster is crying out too for every moment that your opponent uses it. Even right now, Victory Dragon is screaming in pain as that man uses it for his own evil intentions. You can't give up, Shinsei. Victory Dragon will return to you. I swear that I will do everything in my power to bring him back to you."

Shinsei rolled over and reached into the nightstand next to him. He pulled out a deck of cards and whipped it at Soutou. The deck split apart in front of him and tons of cards gently floated to the floor. "I told you it's a stupid game! I'm not going to play it any more! Take these too! I don't want to have to see another Duel Monster's card again! Victory Dragon betrayed me! He made me look like a fool!" At this point Shinsei's eyes were overflowing with tears. "He… he stomped on everything I thought dueling was about….." He cried. Unable to continue speaking, Shinsei burst out into tears. Soutou got up and picked up all of his cards off the ground.

"I'll trade you then." Soutou sad as he put the cards he had picked up into his pocket. "I'll hold onto these, and when I give it back to you it will have all of your cards in it, even Victory Dragon." Shinsei continued to cry with his head down. Soutou put a hand on his shoulder and placed a card in his hand. "And in return, I want you to hold onto this. Don't let that evil man's ways poison you, Shinsei. Keep on believing in what you bravely said to him that night. Don't let him pollute your mind, your world."

Shinsei looked down at the card Soutou had placed in his hand. "Remove Brainwashing?" Soutou patted Shinsei on the head and walked to the door. "See you later, Shinsei." He said before walking out. Shinsei wiped his eyes and laughed. Tears started flowing once more, but they were different this time. This time they were tears of happiness.

Soutou's personality changed entirely as he stepped out into the hallway. He stomped down the halls of the hospital like a man on a mission, his face red with rage, his eyes darkened with hate. Stealing a small child's card with such vile tactics. Churning up so much damage and pain. Not showing a single shred of remorse….!

"There's no way in hell I'm going to let this guy off easy." Soutou declared to himself as he stepped out of the hallway.

Soutou spent the next few days ordering various types of metals online and working in his garage. Against his better judgment, he called his brother Koto and told him about his hospital trip. Koto was slightly angry at Soutou for impersonating a family member, but he was glad that he tried to help the family.

Knowing that Soutou had taken an interest in the case, Koto began working vigorously on it. Although not in charge of the entire thing, he was one of the main detectives who had been given the task of locating the thief and hopefully catching him.

It was a Saturday night when Soutou received a call from Koto. He had just finished welding his latest project. He set down his blowtorch, took off his mask and answered the phone.

Before Soutou could say anything Koto began speaking. "Yo, Soutou! Your gonna love this!" Koto said happily. "Geeze, your so mild mannered. The least you could do is let me ask who's calling before you start blabbing about stuff."

Koto laughed. "Who cares about manners? Your going to love this! You know that case I've been working on? We found someone who says that there's someone who was talking about him the other day. Guess who that person is?"

"Who?" Soutou asked, slightly confused about what Koto had just told him. "Touzoku Kusemono, the guy that walked in your last trial." Soutou's eyes widened and he almost dropped the phone. "What! You mean he's connected to the robber?" Soutou said excitedly.

"Slow down there Soutou. It was just a tip, we don't know anything for sure yet. Were going to ask him to come in for questioning in a few days though. Hopefully this can give us some sort of-"

"What!" Soutou interrupted. "Your not inviting him over for tea Koto!" He's a criminal that walked free, and now he has ties to someone ever worse then him! You can put him away for a day or two at least for questioning, and your just gonna take your sweet time and invite him over for a casual interrogation!" Soutou slammed a fist on the wall.

"That's unacceptable!" The other line was silent for a minute. "Look, Soutou, I know your very passionate about what's going on with this case, but you need to settle down. I know that guy shouldn't have walked, but we have to treat him just like an other person with a clean slate, because that's what the law says he is. We have a lot of other work to do here too, and since there's only a slim chance that this source is correct, we cant just drop everything and go after him."

Soutou was silent. "I have to go. Goodbye." He suddenly said, and quickly hung up the phone and walked back into his garage. If everyone will turn a blind eye to crime…. And forfeit the idea of justice…. He picked up a large chunk of metal. It was shaped like a mask, and shined a bright silver. Yellow metal spikes jutted off of it in every direction, and in the center there was a metal circle with a blue piece of glass in its center. Soutou took the mask and placed it over his face.

Then I'll be the one to enforce it from now on. I won't have any rules or regulations. I won't let wrong doers roam the streets. This world's system is broken… Soutou lifted another large piece of metal off of the table. It was a large metal shield in the shape of an arm. Soutou slipped this on over his left arm. The fingers were separated so that he could open and close his hand, and there was a large plate over his shoulder.

Aside from his new mask and armor, Soutou had on black dress pants and a black dress shirt, which was tucked in. He had a silver handkerchief in his shirt pocket and a silver tie to match it. And if nobody else will, then I will fix it. I will cleanse this world of evil! I will make it perfect through nothing less then absolute justice!

Soutou walked down the street, his head down, and his hands in his pockets. It was 10:00 at night, but the streets were empty. The air was heavy with smog and the scent of garbage. The buildings that Soutou passed were filthy. Run down, graffiti everywhere, broken windows. He ignored the grim scenery around him and continued walking.

A faint light shone in front of him. In a parking lot down the street, a barrel had a fire burning in it. There were four boys, around 18-21 standing around it talking and laughing. They didn't notice Soutou as he trudged along towards them.

Even when he stood just two feet away from the group, nobody noticed him. Soutou remained silent until one of the men pointed to him. The group got up and walked over to him.

"You lookin for somethin, bro?" One of them asked in a cocky tone. Soutou remained motionless. "Hey, what up with his mask? This guy thinks hes some kinda superhero or somethin.!" The group laughed at this and began to circle him.

"What is that, some kinda sex costume bro?" They laughed again. "You lookin for a good time with one of us?" The man continued. Everyone laughed again. "Hey, show us your face, bro!" One of them said. He reached for Soutou's mask.

Suddenly Soutou's hand shot out of his pocket and grabbed the man's hand. His other hand then grabbed lower on his arm and flipped him over his shoulder, swinging his body down onto another one of his friends. The other two went to act, but Soutou was surprisingly fast. Without letting go, Soutou heaved and swung the man he was holding into the two in front of him. He crashed into their stomachs and sent them hurdling backwards.

The first one who had gotten hit was unconscious. The one he had used as a weapon was swearing about his arm, which had made a sickening popping noise after Soutou has swung him into his friends. A third was still trapped underneath his comrade who had been used as a weapon. The fourth had jumped up and assumed a fighting position.

"You." Soutou said, pointing a finger at the fourth. "Touzoku Kusemono, right?" Kusemono lowered his guard a little. "Yeah, what do you want?" Soutou grinned underneath his mask. With amazing agility he took a step forward and slammed his armored fist into Touzoku's stomach. He let out a yell as he was knocked off his feet and send backwards into the burning barrel. He hit its side and knocked it backwards, causing its burning contents to spill out onto the pavement.

"W-what do you want from me!" He cried as Soutou grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him off the ground. "What do you know about the guy who stole that Victory Dragon card?" Soutou asked very nonchalantly.

"I-I don't know what your talking about! I didn't even know it got stolen!" Soutou dragged Touzoku over to the burning pile of wood on the ground. "I don't have time for lies Touzoku." He said as he held his face over the fire. "Tell me what I want to know, or I will burn you."

Touzoku began whimpering with fear. "Ok, OK! His name is Houseki! I don't know the rest of his name, but he's an underground duelist! He's one of the underground's top duelists, and also in charge of several duel gangs! He just showed up here the other day asking me and my crew to join up with him! He asked us to show up at his duel tonight at the warehouse on yellowtail! That's all I know, PLEASE LET ME GO!"

Soutou brought Touzoku's face dangerously close to the fire. Touzoku began whimpering even more. Suddenly Soutou released him. Touzoku caught himself before his face could touch the fire and crawled away. "Stay out of trouble and I wont be back." Soutou said emotionlessly as he turned to walk away.

Suddenly he felt something clamp down on his leg. His eyes shot open with surprise as he looked down. Touzoku was grinning like a maniac with two hands around his leg. Soutou shook him free and jumped back, but it was too late. A metal band had already been placed around it. Touzoku pulled out a small switch and pressed it. Soutou stifled a yell as electricity coursed through his body. He dropped to one knee and started breathing heavily.

"Hold on there, bro. We've got a big opportunity here. I cant let you just waltz right in here and walk away with everything you want. Besides, what would Houseki say if he found out?" Touzoku pulled out a blood red duel disk and activated it. "That's a duel disk on your arm, aint it?" He asked, pointing to Soutou's orange duel disk. "Why don't we have some fun, huh?"

Soutou scowled behind his mask. Damnit, I didn't plan on getting mixed up in a duel with this guy. But now that he's got this duel shocker on me it looks like I don't have a choice. I'll just end this quickly…

"I'll be nice and let you go first, bro! Just to give you a chance before I end you!" Touzoku yelled confidently. Soutou casually drew a card from his deck. "I place two cards facedown. Turn end."

Touzoku laughed. "That it, bro? This is gonna be easier then I thought!" Touzoku snapped a card off of his deck. "I play my spell card, Burning Coals! This card allows me to send a number of fire monsters from my hand to the grave to send an equal number from my deck to the grave. I'll send 3 from my hand, and 3 from my deck!"

Soutou didn't bother asking what Touzoku planned on doing with this. He must have some sort of card that summons monsters from the graveyard….

Touzoku began laughing madly. "Good game, bro! I activate my spell card, Pureflame Eruption! This card will special summon as many pyro monsters in my grave with 200 defense as possible to the field! I summon Frembell Dragunov, Frembell Baby, Frembell Archer, Frembell Gurukina, and Frembell Hound to the field in attack position!"

Soutou watched as Touzoku amassed 5 monsters in a single turn. "That's 6500 points of hurt waiting for you on my field! Now, I'll end it! My frembell army, attack directly!"

Soutou didn't even flinch as all of Touzoku's monsters began charging towards him. "Trap card activate, Wotan's Judgment." A green clothed man appeared on the field holding a bright white staff. He trusted it forward and a giant barrier appeared, blocking all of Touzoku's attacks. "I will draw 1 card, then place my "Element Mastery" on top of my deck and shuffle it. Your battle phase then ends."

Touzoku growled angrily at Soutou. "Your monsters will dissapear during the end phase, wont they?" Soutou asked. "Not if I get rid of them before that! Tuning my level 1 Frembell Baby to my level 4 Frembell Gurukina! Synchro Summon, Frembell Urquizas!"

Soutou was unmoved by Urquizas's appearance. "The strongest Frembell monster. He shouldn't be too hard to deal with." Touzoku laughed upon hearing that. "You don't stand a chance against him! During my end phase, all of my Frembell monsters summoned by Pureflame Eruption will be removed from the field!" All of Touzoku's monsters except for Urquizas began fading away, like ashes in a breeze.

Soutou smiled. "During the end phase, I'll activate my facedown card, Equal Opportunity. During the end phase of your turn, I can special summon monsters from my deck equal to the number of monsters you special summoned on your turn. All effects of summoned monsters are negated."

Soutou fanned through his deck and selected 5 monsters. "I summon Ally of Justice - Galadholg, Ally of Justice - D.D. Checker, Ally of Justice - Light Reflector, Ally of Justice - Thousand Arms and Ally of Justice - Reverse Breaker."

Touzoku started to sweat a little as Soutou swarmed the field just as quickly as he had. "B-but none of them can stand up to Urquizas! Its futile!" Soutou ignored him. "Its my turn, draw."

Soutou looked over his hand. "I activate my spell card, Inescapable Refinement. This card returns all cards that are removed from play to the graveyard. Also, monsters cannot be special summoned from the graveyard. That means that all of your Frembell monsters will return to the grave."

"Now, tuning my level 1 Light Reflector to my level 4 Reverse Breaker and my level 4 Thousand Arms. As darkness engulfs everything, the world cries out for justice! Become the one to answer that call!"

Light Reflector began glowing and transformed into a single green ring. Reverse Breaker and Thousand Arms passed through this rings and began fading away until they were nothing but glowing yellow outlines. Each had 4 shining stars inside of them. The eight stars passed through the one green ring, causing a giant beam of green light to shoot down onto Soutou's field. "Synchro Summon, Ally of Justice - Field Marshall."

Touzoku began to quake with fear as Soutou's massive humanoid machine descended onto the field. The entire parking lot was illuminated by the beams of light shooting off from Field Marshall.

Calm down. Touzoku thought to himself. The monsters he summoned with his Equal Opportunity card cant attack or use their effects. And now that he's out of tuners, theyre useless! I just have to withstand this turn! Then I can use my Smashing Ground spell on hand and destroy Field Marshal!

Light Reflector appeared from the graveyard and hovered above the field. Field Marshall directed all of its search lights on the glass prism, causing blinding light to illuminate the field. "Light Reflector will make all monsters on the field and the graveyard light attribute monsters. Which will allow me to play my next card, Light Wave Tuning. This will turn Ally of Justice - Galadholg into a tuner monster."

"Damnit, another synchro summon!" Touzoku yelled. "Tuning my level 4 Galadholg to my level 4 D.D. Checker. As darkness engulfs everything, the world cries out for justice! Become the one to answer that call! Synchro Summon! Ally of Justice - Light Gazer!"

Touzoku could barely see anything. The field was bathed in nothing but pure light. He could just barely make out the outlines of Light Gazer and Field Marshall. "Light Gazer gains 200 attack points for every light monster in your graveyard. You have 6 due to Light Reflector's effect, giving Light Gazer 1200 attack." (Attack: 3600)

"An attack of 3600!" Touzoku yelled. "I won't let you off that easy though. No, I wont let you get off easy by ending it with just one attack…I'm going to brutally attack you many times until you repent for your sins! I activate my spell card, Thousand Punisher!"

Touzoku watched as Light Gazer's attack began to decrease. It went down and down until it reached 1000. After that, it exploded. "B-But why!" Touzoku asked.

Soutou pointed to Field Marshall. "Thousand Punisher decreases one of my monsters attack to 1000. After that, another one of my monsters can attack an additional time for each 1000 point decrease. This will give Field Marshall 2 more attacks." Touzoku's started shaking as he realized what was about to happen. "Ally of Justice - Field Marshall, attack his Frembell Urquizas! Field Control!"

Field Marshall raised one of its massive hands and brought it crashing down on Urquizas, breaking the flaming beast into pieces.

Soutou's Life Points: 4000

Touzoku's Life Points: 3200

"Field Marshall, direct attack! Spotlight Terror!" Touzoku screamed as all of Field Marshall's spotlights focused on him. The light was so bright that his eyes went white and he collapsed to the ground, dazed and blinded by the attack. "S-stop…. Please just stop… I cant see… oh God… oh GOD! I CANT SEE!" He shrieked.

Soutou's Life Points: 4000

Touzoku's Life Points: 300

Soutou didn't show even the slightest hesitation. "Ally of Justice - Field Marshall, direct attack. Field Control." Touzoku screamed at the top of his lungs as Field Marshall's hand came crashing down on him.

Soutou's Life Points: 4000

Touzoku's Life Points: 0

Touzoku clambered to his feet, still unable to see. "*******. YOU *******! I CANT SEE! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!" Touzoku whipped out the remote he had used earlier to shock Soutou. Soutou ran at him as he cranked the dial up to its maximum level. He put his thumb on the button. "I'll-!"

Soutou's metal fist plowed through Touzoku's duel disk like tissue paper and into his stomach. Touzoku didn't move, and simply stood there, supported only by Soutou's fist. Soutou looked down and saw that he had punched a hole straight through Touzoku's mostly plastic disk. Electricity was sparking from the hole he had made. Soutou slowly pulled his fist back and free from the duel disk.

Touzoku dropped to his knees, and Soutou could see that he was just barely conscious. His duel disk crackled with sparks before suddenly exploding on his arm. Soutou turned around and began walking away, not even bothering to look back as Touzoku dropped to the ground.

"I guess that kind of duel disk is all that scum like you can afford." He muttered. "Now, on to important matters…."

Sneaking into the warehouse was going to be harder then Soutou expected. The average-looking run down building was guarded by two large men in suits and sunglasses. The only people they were letting in were the ones who handed them envelopes that appeared to contain invitations.

Disgusting…. Soutou thought to himself. The only reason the underground dueling business rakes in millions is because these rich, filthy pigs come here to see people kill each other for their own entertainment. Absolutely vulgar.

The only other entrance inside was through the backdoor in the alley. Unfortunately this area was occupied by who he could only guess was Houseki as well as his manager, and someone else.

Soutou was positioned on the roof of the building next door. He blended in perfectly with the darkness. As Soutou watched person after person enter the building, he came up with a plan.

Soutou crawled to the other end of the building he was on top of and silently descended the wall to the ground. The alley behind the building connected with the alley that Houseki was standing in. Soutou grabbed a large rock and threw it as hard as he could at two old garbage cans at the end of the alley. It smashed into them and knocked them over. He watched as Houseki, his manager, and the third man all stopped talking and peered down the alley.

"Who's there?" His manager asked. No response. "Heh, I bet some street rats hopping around in the trash and trying to sneak in. I'll take care of him." Houseki said happily. His manager put a hand on his chest as he stepped forward. "Are you crazy? The duel starts in 5 minutes, get your ass in there and get ready. We'll take a look, just don't worry about it."

Houseki didn't protest, but turned around and went into the building. Soutou quickly ran back to the ladder he had climbed down while the manager and third man slowly crept into the alley. Soutou pulled himself up the ladder as quickly and silently as he could. He heard their voices echo in the alley below as he sprinted across the rooftop.

"Maybe it was nothing." He heard the third man say. "I wanna make sure it was nothing." The manager responded. "I don't want no little kids snooping around here getting an earful about our strategy for everyone to hear."

Soutou looked around and saw that there was no ladder on this end of the building. He swore under his breath and grabbed the ledge of the building with his hands. He then swung his feet over and let go. He slowly began to descend, his shoes and metal hand sc****** the brick and slowing his fall. He was five feet from the ground when he couldn't hold it anymore and released.

His feet clacked against cement as he hit the ground. Luckily for him, the manager and the man were so far down the alley that they didn't hear it. Soutou raced over to the door and snuck inside.

The second he entered he was ready to attack Houseki. But as he looked around the small dressing room, he saw that it was empty. He looked to his left and saw a door, and light leaking out from underneath it. He heard the sound of running water. In the bathroom…

Soutou spotted his duel disk sitting on a table in front of him. Soutou pulled the deck out and began flipping through it, looking for Victory Dragon. This is perfect. I'm getting luckier then I thought I would. Now after this I can just sneak out into the crowd and take a seat. I'll have to watch the duel, but with my mask I'll blend in perfectly. Houseki will just assume that he didn't draw Victory Dragon, and once he checks his deck for it I'll be-

Soutou's thoughts were cut short as he was sent flying across the room. He smashed into the wall, dazed and confused. He pulled himself up as fast as he could, his head spinning.

He looked to his left and saw Houseki standing where Soutou once stood, a huge grin on his face. His fist was still outstretched from the punch he had delivered to Soutou. "What's up, faceless guy?" Soutou assumed a fighting stance as Houseki greeted him.

"Like my deck?" He asked casually. "It's got a lot of rare cards in it, huh? That's how I build all of my decks. If it aint got a lot of rare cards in it, its not worth crap." Soutou's head was still spinning from Houseki's first punch. Why is he so calm and casual after I just tried to steal his cards? Any normal person would be furious!

It was then that Soutou noticed it. The plate on his shoulder that was meant to act as a shield for his head had been obliterated. It was now lying flat against his shoulder, completely smashed down by Houseki's punch. What the hell is this guy, some sort of monster!

Houseki suddenly reacted, throwing another strong right aimed at Soutou's face. Soutou was just barely able to lean back and avoid the punch. He grabbed Houseki's outstretched wrist with his right hand and pulled forward, causing him to stumble forward slightly. Soutou took this opportunity and lifted his left fist and swung at him, slamming his shielded hand into Houseki's jaw.

Houseki's face jerked to the left, Soutou's fist pressed hard against it. "Ahah…..ahahahahahaha!" He laughed. Soutou was startled by Houseki's laughing. He turned his head and looked at Soutou. "That all you got?" He asked. Soutou was about to ready another punch when Houseki gave him a right hook. His fist shattered the bottom half of his mask and knocked him into the air. Soutou came crashing down to the ground in a heap, his vision spinning.

Suddenly the door opened. "Houseki, what the hell is going on down here!" His manager yelled. Houseki cracked his knuckles and picked up his duel disk. "Some guy snuck in and tried to take my deck." He said, pointing at Soutou. "I don't know who the hell you think you are buddy, you've made a big mistake coming in here!" The manager reached for his mask and went to remove it. "Wait." Houseki said, grabbing his manager's hand.

"Why don't we give the crowd a little bit of excitement before the real show?" He said with a huge grin plastered on his face. His manager smiled at the idea as well. "That's a pretty good idea. I'll be right back to OK it with the owner." He said.

"Then after I humiliate him in front of everyone I can pull off his mask and show everyone his face. After all, that's pretty insulting to superheroes, isn't it?" Houseki laughed. "Faceless guy, you've just stepped right into hell."

His head still spinning, Soutou was attached with duel shockers on his neck, arms, and legs and hoisted up by two large men. He heard someone speaking into a microphone, but he couldn't focus enough to hear what they were saying. Suddenly he was thrown forward into a bright light. Soutou slowly got up as a series of boo's erupted from the audience.

He heard the person on the microphone again, and then a series of cheers as someone else stepped into the light. The person was apparently talking to Soutou. "C-cccomuon anseless urai. Duuuuwlesses starsin."

Soutou squinted as though it would clarify things. His focus slowly started to return. Houseki was standing on the other end of a circle of light from him. He saw what looked like a giant net surrounding both of them. As his vision finally focused, he saw that it was actually a cage.

"I said come on, faceless guy. The duels already started." Houseki's clear voice snapped Soutou back into reality. He clambered to his feet and took a few steps back. "Duel?" He asked. Houseki grinned and nodded. "That's right. This is a death cage match. There aint nowhere for you to run to get out of this duel. Only the one left alive can escape." Soutou looked around at all of the evil, grinning masked faces staring at the ring. There was a dull murmur in the crowd. They were anxious for a duel.

"I wont duel you." Soutou declared defiantly. "I wont get wrapped up in your evil ways." The crowd began booing Soutou, but Houseki just laughed. "So you are a super hero after all, huh? A stupid one, but you still think that you're a hero!" Houseki pointed to the metal band attached to his neck. "See these things on your body? If you refuse to duel they'll shock you to death. You aint got a choice in the matter."

Soutou remained defiant. "This isn't the way I want to reap my revenge. I wont do it." He declared once more. "I get it now. Revenge, huh?" Houseki pulled his deck out and began flipping through it. He pulled a card out and showed it to Soutou. It was Victory Dragon. "I guess this is what you were after then, huh? I'll ante it then. If you beat me in this duel, you can pry Victory Dragon out of my cold, dead hands."

Soutou was starting to sweat underneath his mask. Damnit, I didn't want to have to get involved in this disgusting way of dueling. But if he's offering Victory Dragon up as an ante, I have no choice but to accept. I have to get that card back to Shinsei by any means necessary…. No matter what.

"Fine then. I'll accept your challenge!" Houseki grinned with delight and drew 5 cards. "Good, good! You'll be a nice warm up for me!"

"Duel!" They both declared. "You can have the first turn, faceless guy." Houseki said as he motioned for Soutou to go. "My turn, draw! I place two cards facedown. Then I activate my continuous spell card, Light Law - Equality! With this card, all monsters on the field and in the graveyard will become light-attribute monsters. Then Ill summon my Ally of Justice - Unknown Crusher in attack position!" Turn end.

"Such a pathetic monster. I'll crush it quickly so that you don't have to bear with such a disgraceful thing sitting on your field. First I'll activate my spell card, Dark World Dealings. We are both allowed to draw 1 card. Then we must discard 1 card from our hands."

"I'll chain my facedown card, Respect Play! With this card, during each of our turns, we must play with our hands revealed." Houseki gritted his teeth and swore under his breath as 5 card images appeared above him, revealing his hand. He had Topaz Dragon, Sapphire Dragon, Carboneddon, Empty Nesting Grounds, and Super Rejuvination."

More boos erupted from the crowd. "You seem unhappy with this play Houseki. You criminals are always hiding things… are you scared now that everything is out in the open?" Houseki growled as he drew Spell books of the Pot and discarded Carboneddon.

"I summon my Topaz Dragon in attack position!"(Attack: 1800) Houseki declared as a shining yellow dragon appeared on his field. "Topaz Dragon, destroy his Unknown Crusher! Topaz Stream!"

Soutou braced himself for the electric shock as Unknown Crusher was blown apart by Topaz Dragon's yellow jet of flame.

Soutou's Life Points: 3400

Houseki's Life Points: 4000

The crowd cheered as electricity erupted from Soutou's body. He clenched his teeth and did his best to remain still to avoid giving the crowd the satisfaction of seeing him in pain.

"Ally of Justice - Unknown Crusher's effect will activate! When he battles a light-type monster, that monster will be removed from the game!" Houseki furrowed his brow as his Topaz Dragon suddenly vanished. The crowd began booing Soutou and throwing garbage at him.

"What a cowardly trick. However, when Topaz Dragon is removed from the field, I can add 1 level 4 or lower dragon type monster from my deck to my hand. I'll place my "Ruby Dragon" in my deck from my hand. Turn end."

"My turn, draw!" Soutou declared as he pulled a card off of his deck. His hand appeared above him due to Respect Plays effect. It consisted of Ally of Justice - Galadholg, Ally of Justice - Lethal Weapon and Continuance.

"I place one more card facedown. Turn end." Soutou said calmly. "Its my turn, draw!" the image of Pot of Greed appeared above Houseki in his hand. "What kind of cheap trick are you getting at, faceless guy? You have a summon able monster on hand, you could have easily played him and attacked directly."

"Who knows?" Soutou taunted. "Maybe I've given up? The only way to find out is by attacking me." Houseki grinned. "Don't get cocky on me faceless guy. You may think that you have a plan. But regardless of what it is, I'll break it! I play Pot of Greed! This card allows me to draw two cards from my deck!"

Lord of D. and Flute of Summoning Dragon appeared in Houseki's hand. "Now, I summon Lord of D. In attack position! While Lord of D is on the field, I can play my spell card, The Flute of Summoning Dragon! This will special summon the Ruby Dragon and Sapphire Dragon in my hand!"

The crowd cheered as Houseki swarmed 3 monsters onto the field in one turn. "With Lord of D. on the field, my dragon-type monsters cant be targeted by your spell, trap, or monster effects! Now my monsters have protection from your set cards! With Sapphire Dragon and Ruby Dragon alone, I can reduce your life points to 0! Sapphire Dragon, attack Soutou directly! Sapphire Blaze!"

Soutou blocked Sapphire Dragon's burst of fire with his metal arm, but the ensuing electricity caused him to drop to a knee. It coursed through his body for several minutes before dying down. Soutou began panting heavily once it disappeared.

Soutou's Life Points: 1500

Houseki's Life Points: 4000

"I activate my trap card, Crime and Punishment! When I receive a direct attack from my opponent, I can destroy 1 monster on your side of the field!" Houseki laughed. "But Lord of D. prevents my monsters from being targeted by card effects! Even if you destroy Lord of D., Ruby Dragon still has his attack left!" Soutou pointed a finger at Lord of D. "I'll destroy your lord of D.!"

Even as Lord of D. exploded, Houseki was unmoved. "Ruby Dragon, direct attack! Ruby Flame Stream!" Houseki smiled. "Its over, faceless guy!"

"I activate my quick-play spell, Continuance! When I receive battle damage, I can select one of my opponents face up monsters. The battle phase will end, and that monster cannot attack during the next 2 battle phases." Houseki was unmoved by Soutou's play. "Trying to stall, huh? It's a shame you couldn't have used that on Sapphire Dragon. I end my turn."

"Crime and Punishment's effect will activate! During your end phase, I can special summon 1 level 4 or lower monster from my hand! I summon Ally of Justice - Galadholg in attack!" Houseki thought back to Soutou's hand. So that's why he didn't summon his monster….he knew that I had Sapphire Dragon in hand, and that Galadholg would be destroyed. But with Crime and Punishment he was able to summon him at a time when I could no longer battle. Still, Galadholg doesn't stand a chance against Sapphire Dragon….but wait!

Soutou drew a card from his deck. "Its my turn!" Criminal's Accomplice was added to the image of his hand. "It seems like you've caught on Houseki. I tribute my Ally of Justice -Galadholg to summon Ally of Justice - Lethal Weapon in attack position!"

Houseki started to sweat as Lethal Weapon appeared on the field. ****, if he gets lucky with that monster he could end me! If only I had something to negate his attack! "Ally of Justice - Lethal Weapon, attack his Sapphire Dragon! Dangerous Destruction!" Soutou's monster drove at Sapphire Dragon at top speed and rammed a large drill into the monsters stomach. The drill began turning and put a hole in Sapphire Dragon. The machine then smashed the dragon's head in with a hammer and large fist.

Soutou's Life Points: 1500

Houseki's Life Points: 3700

Houseki laughed happily as electricity charged through his body. "This is nothing, Soutou! Come on, hit me again! Let me feel some REAL damage!" He yelled excitedly. Soutou grinned. "Ally of Justice - Lethal Weapon's effect will activate! When he destroys a monster in battle, I can draw 1 card! If that card is a level 4 or lower dark machine monster, I can special summon it!" Soutou closed his eyes and slowly drew a card from his deck. He grinned when he saw it. "I'll summon Ally of Justice - Cycle Leader in attack position!"

"Heh, its not even close to strong enough to take out Ruby Dragon!" Soutou ignored Houseki. "He wont be attacking Ruby Dragon. I activate my quick-play spell, Criminal's Accomplice! This card will allow Lethal Weapon to attack your Ruby Dragon! Go, Ally of Justice - Lethal Weapon! Attack his Ruby Dragon! Dangerous Destruction!"

Soutou's Life Points: 1500

Houseki's Life Points: 3100

Houseki started cracking up again as his body overflowed with electricity. Soutou drew another card. "I'll summon Ally of Justice - Unlimiter in defense with Lethal Weapon's effect! Now, Cycle Leader, attack Houseki directly!"

Soutou's Life Points: 1500

Houseki's Life Points: 2100

The crowd cheered as Houseki's body continued to let off bursts of electricity, and he was enjoying every second of it. "Since your out of cards, I'm going to guess that its my turn! Draw!"

Houseki's hand revealed his latest drawn card, Stamping Destruction. "I activate my spell card, Spell books of the Pot! This card allows us to both draw 3 cards from our deck!" While Soutou's three draws were temporarily concealed, Houseki's were not. Soutou saw Emerald Dragon, Immortal Dragon, and Phantom Flyer."

"I'll activate the effect of my Phantom Flyer. If my opponent tribute summoned a monster in their last turn, I can special summon him in attack position!" (Attack: 1400) "I'll continue with my Super Rejuvination spell. During the end phase, I can draw 1 card for each dragon type monster tributed this turn.

Soutou paid little attention to the small ghostly dragon. He already knew what he planned to do. "I release my Phantom Flyer to summon Emerald Dragon in attack position!" Soutou watched as a giant green dragon appeared onto Houseki's field. Damn, its strong enough to take out Lethal Weapon…this isn't going to end well.

"Next I'll activate my spell card, Stamping Destruction! When I control a dragon type monster, I can destroy one of your spell or trap cards and inflicts 500 damage to your life points! The card I choose is your Light Law - Equality!"

Soutou couldn't help but utter a scream as a huge amount of electricity passed through his body. Houseki didn't hesitated as he continued his attack. "Emerald Dragon, attack his Ally of Justice - Lethal Weapon! Emerald Flare!"

More electricity charged through Soutou as his monster was engulfed in green flames. The crowd clapped and cheered as Soutou stumbled backwards, his body shaking as though he were possessed, and fell against the cage.

Soutou's Life Points: 800

Houseki's Life Points: 2100

"Heh, is that the end then, faceless guy? That's a shame, you were putting up a better fight then I thought you would!" Houseki held up his arms and the crowd erupted in applause. "Nobody is stronger then me, nobody! I am the underground dueling league's #1 duelist! Let that be remembered by all challengers!"

"Wait…" Houseki turned back to Soutou. "Heh, still alive?" He laughed. Soutou pulled himself to his feet. "Wait just a damn minute…. Who do you think you are, claiming your victory before the duels even over? You…..should be ashamed…."

Houseki gave him a puzzled look. "What's wrong with declaring my victory while your laying dead on the ground? Even if you get back up, the same thing will just happen in a turn or two. Except next time, your life points will be totally gone."

Soutou glared at Houseki through his mask. "Your right…..except my life points wont be gone. Yours will. And I'm going to guarantee that with my next move!"

"So what've we got here chief?" Koto asked the police officer as he hopped out of his car. The officer looked puzzled. "Ummm, Mr. Kougi, he's the chief." He said, pointing to the large man sitting next to him. "I'm just-" "I know, I know! Its just a phrase, you know?" Koto interrupted.

The officer ignored him. "Uhh, ok….well, we only have 2 victims. There were 4 of them when it all happened. One was knocked unconscious, but he's fine now. Another had his arm dislocated at the shoulder, were shipping him off to a hospital right now, were going to question him there. A third fled the scene, were still locating him right now. And the fourth…. Well….."

"Christ, what the hell happened to him?" Koto blurted out as the officer and police chief led him over to a body lying on the ground. His face was disgustingly mangled. It was covered in burns, and parts of it were melted off. He also had large chunks of red plastic jutting out of his face. Attached to his arm was a red duel disk with a large hole in the center.

Koto eyed it over for a minute before speaking. "Well, if I were to take a guess at how he died, I'd say that someone took a sharp object, like a sword or pipe or something, and smashed into his duel disk with it, maybe in the middle of a duel? This disk is pretty cheap, I think a wooden bat could've done this damage even. After the disk was broken it exploded on him, doing….. All of this." He said, motioning to the burns and pieces of plastic on his face.

"That's correct. Paramedics claim that a large piece of plastic went through his right temple. That's what killed him. They say that he also has a few broken ribs, but they didn't cause his death. That was defiantly the explosion." The officer said. "Alright then, thank you. You can be on your way now." Koto said, dismissing the officer.

That left only Koto and the chief. Koto pulled out a pair of rubber gloves and put them on as he looked over the victim. "I have a bad feeling about this Koto. Do you have any idea who this is?"

Koto shook his head. "Sorry to say I don't chief. Maybe if his face wasn't melted off I could have a better shot at guessing." He joked. "Touzoku Kusemono." The chief said. Koto's eyes widened. "No kidding?" Koto said, trying to maintain his cool.

"We think that someone found out that someone had dirt on him knowing about that thief that blew up that house awhile back. Other then being your average street kid, we can't find out anyone who would want to off him." The chief continued. Koto slowly pried open his hand. He pulled out a small remote and eyed it over.

"Know what this is chief?" Koto asked. The chief shook his head. "No idea." Koto flipped it over and opened the back, pulling out a watch battery. "It's a remote to a duel shocker device. This kid was using it for underground dueling I'm guessing."

The chief shook his head. "Impossible. We've scanned the entire area, searched his cloths. He doesn't have any duel shockers on him." Soutou stood up and held the remote up. "That's because whoever he was dueling has it on them now. My best bet is that Touzoku over here lost the game and got pissed, so he pulls this out and goes to off the person. The person sees this, picks up a nearby piece of garbage, maybe a pipe, maybe a hunk of wood, and goes to stop him. He gets blown up, they get scared, and they high tail it out of here."

"Then it could be anyone in the area." The chief said, finishing Koto's theory. "Wrong." Koto responded. "Each duel shocker has a different frequency so that they don't get mixed up with other remotes. If we trace the frequency of the last shock from this remote, we'll find our culprit."

"How soon can you figure this out?" The chief asked. Koto smiled. "5 minutes tops." He said happily

"I'll place 2 cards facedown." Houseki declared. "Turn end. Super Rejuvenation's effect will allow me to draw 1 card from my deck! Now show me if you really can turn this duel around! Go ahead, try! I'll enjoy every second of your failure. A duelist like you who relies on crappy cards that enforce justice and make things right has no place in this game! Strength, Power, Money! These are the things that it takes to be a strong duelist! Without these, you have no hopes of making a comeback!"

Soutou's rage boiled over as he heard the same words he had heard in Mrs. Konjou's story. How many duelists have heard his filthy lies…how many have suffered from his false preaching? "How many have had to drown in the despair you put on their shoulders? The number is already more then one, and that's too many! What you do is unforgivable! I wont spare you even the slightest shred of sympathy! People like you don't belong in this world! And for polluting this world with your evil, I will enforce justice on you!"

Houseki laughed. "JUST TRY IT THEN!" Soutou ripped a card out from his deck. "ITS MY TURN!" His hand revealed itself above him. It consisted of Ally of Justice - D.D. Checker, Attribute Bomb, Ally of Justice - Researcher, and Dark Computer Virus.

"I summon Ally of Justice - D.D. Checker in attack position!" Soutou declared. Houseki laughed. "What can this weak assortment of monsters do for you?" Soutou's glared even harder at Houseki. "Tuning my level 3 Cycle Leader to my level 2 Unlimiter and my level 4 D.D. Checker."

Cycle Leader split into 3 green rings. D.D. Checker and Unlimiter flew into the air, and as the green rings passed over them, their bodies vanished and were replaced by white stars. "As darkness engulfs everything, the world cries out for justice! BECOME THE ONE TO ANSWER THAT CALL!"

"Synchro Summon! Ally of Justice - Field Marshall!" From the green light behind Soutou the titan known as Field Marshall emerged. It directed one of each of its spotlights at everyone in the room, illuminating the entire place. "Now, bathe in it! The light that comes from unwavering, absolute justice! Let it expose your evil ways and show the world your true natures!" Soutou laughed.

Houseki started to sweat as Soutou's massive monster revealed itself. "Now I'll activate the effect of my Ally of Justice - Field Enforcer that I discarded due to your Dark World Dealings! When I synchro summon an Ally of Justice monster, I can special summon him from the graveyard in attack position!" (Attack: 0)

A large mechanical whistle appeared out of Soutou's graveyard. It was all silver except for two orange and yellow stripes running around its sides. It also had two awkward robotic legs sticking out of it. "Next I'll equip Field Marshall with Attribute Bomb! Now when Field Marshall destroys a wind type monster, you'll take 1000 points of damage! Now, Field Enforcer, attack his Emerald Dragon! Whistle Blower!"

The large mechanical whistle emitted a screeching noise so high pitched that the audience and Houseki had to cover their ears. Soutou endured it with a smile on his face. "When Field Enforcer attacks an opponents monster, by returning him to my hand, I can flip that monster into face down defense position!"

Emerald Dragon roared as its card image rose up from underneath it and tackled it, flipping the monster facedown. "Now, Ally of Justice - Field Marshall! Attack his facedown Emerald Dragon! Field Control!" Field Marshall raised one of its enormous hands and brought its palm crashing down on the facedown Emerald Dragon. "When Field Marshall destroys a facedown monster in battle, I can draw one card!" Field Marshall directed one of its giant hands to Soutou. The hand shot off a burst of energy. Soutou took in a deep breath as the energy engulfed his body and he drew a card. It appeared above him in his hand as Book of Total Solar Eclipse.

"Also, Attribute Bomb will inflict 1000 points of damage to your life points!" Field Marshall raised its other hand and shot a ball of green fire at Houseki. He screamed as his body coursed with electrical energy.

Soutou's Life Points: 800

Houseki's Life Points: 1100

"Seems like your finally starting to feel the damage." Soutou said with a grin on his face. "I play one card facedown. Turn end." Houseki was panting heavily. "Shut up! I activate my facedown card, Immortal Dragon! By removing my Ruby Dragon in the graveyard from the game, Emerald Dragon is resummoned!"

Soutou watched as Emerald Dragon returned to the field. But as long as Field Marshall has higher attack points, I'll be ok… He thought to himself. His vision wavered as Houseki drew a card. He has two cards in hand… but I can't see them…focus…focus! What are those two cards….?

"I activate my spell card, Adamantine Sword Revival! I'll tribute my Emerald Dragon to summon Diamond Head Dragon in attack position!" Soutou watched as Emerald Dragon vanished in a bright white beam of light. The light expanded and the giant green diamond studded Diamond Head Dragon stepped onto the field. It let out a deep roar. The audience cheered at the appearance of Houseki's ace. (Attack: 3400)

"Diamond Head Dragon has more then enough attack points to finish off Field Marshall! Go, Diamond Head Dragon! Attack his Ally of Justice - Field Marshall! Diamond Crusher!" The dragon lifted his spiked tail and swung at Field Marshall.

"I activate my quick-play spell, Book of Solar Eclipse! This card will flip all monsters on the field face-down until the end of the turn!" A black book appeared out of Soutou's spell card. It opened itself and began flipping through the pages as though possessed. With the turn of each page, darkness erupted from the book until the entire field was black. Soutou heard a few people in the audience shriek.

Houseki laughed. "Bathing the field in light, then coating it in darkness? Your ideals are all over the place faceless guy!" Soutou ignored him. The world might be engulfed in darkness now, but I'll bring the light back into it! I swear it!

"I place one card facedown! Go ahead, take your turn!" Houseki laughed. 'First, Book of Solar Eclipse flips all of your monsters into face up defense. (Defense: 2800) Then your allowed to draw 1 card for each monster flipped face up. Houseki silently drew a card. Soutou quickly snapped a card off of the top of his deck. It appeared above him as Aftermath of Impact.

"The game is over, Houseki! I summon Ally of Justice - Researcher in attack position!" Houseki remained calm, even with the appearance of Soutou's new monster. If I attack with Field Marshall and destroy his Diamond Head Dragon, then the path is clear for Researcher to make a direct attack…. But he has two facedown cards…damnit, what was that last card he drew? Soutou felt himself wobble and steadied himself.

I have to end this fast and get out of here. I don't have time to sit around and think or wait for a spell destruction card. I can't even remember his other facedown card…but if I don't take this chance, I'll lose! "Ally of Justice - Field Marshall, attack his Diamond Head Dragon! Field Control!"

Houseki was unmoved by his monster's destruction. "I activate my facedown card, Empty Nesting Grounds. When a level 8 or higher Dragon type monster on my field is sent to the grave, I can summon 2 "Egg Tokens" to the field in defense position." (Defense: 500)

Soutou gritted his teeth. "But I can still do damage! Researcher, attack his Egg Token! Claw Reach!" The small green machine shot a giant yellow claw at one of the helpless eggs on Houseki's field. "Then I'll activate my quick-play spell, Aftermath of Impact! For this battle, Researcher will do piercing damage!"

Houseki let out a roar as the duel shock system sent more charges of electricity throughout his body.

Soutou's Life Points: 800

Houseki's Life Points: 200

"Trap card activate, Left Arm Offering! By sending my hand to the graveyard, I can add 1 spell card in my deck to my hand!" Houseki placed the card he was holding into the graveyard and grabbed the card his deck spat out. "During the turn I use Empty Nesting Grounds, monsters on my field cannot be destroyed! Although I take damage, my token remains!"

"One card facedown, turn end! Take your last turn, Houseki!" Soutou declared confidently. Houseki slowly drew his next card. His look of uncertainty was replaced with one of absolute confidence when he saw his drawn card. He looked about Houseki and could just barely make out the image of Victory Dragon.

"Your trap card, Respect Play, has helped you several times in this duel faceless guy. But even if you know my every move, that doesn't mean you can stop me!" Houseki laughed. "Its kinda like the justice of this world that you uphold so strongly, isn't it? Even if you know that someone has committed a crime, you can't just get rid of them! In this world, it doesn't matter what crimes you have committed! All that matters is if you have the power to get away with them!"

Houseki flashed a cocky grin at Soutou. "You'll never get justice for what I did to that boy. Regardless of what you may or may not know, I'm stronger then the law! I activate the effect of Carboneddon in my graveyard!" Houseki declared.

"By removing Carboneddon in my graveyard from the game when there are 10 or more cards on top of him, I can special summon Diamond Dragon from my deck in attack position!"

Soutou watched as Houseki's elegant white dragon descended onto the field. "Now I'll tribute all 3 of my monsters in order to summon VICTORY DRAGON!" The crowd gasped in awe as Victory Dragon descended onto the field. They clapped and cheered as its golden figured dwarfed even Field Marshall.

"I activate my trap card, Dark Computer Virus! By tributing Ally of Justice - Researcher, I can change the target of your next continuous spell card to another correct target! However, as you can see my real intentions are to remove the one monster who you could attack and end the game! Without Researcher on the field, Victory Dragon doesn't stand a chance against Field Marshall!"

Houseki began cackling madly. "I've already prepared for that! The spell card I added to my hand with Trade Your Left Arm is none other then Dark Dragon Claws! This will increase Victory Dragon's attack by 800!" Soutou gasped and watched as Victory Dragon's attack climbed to 3100. "Be glad that I'm going to end you with Victory Dragon's strike. It'll save you the embarrassment of having to stumble through another useless turn!"

Soutou was speechless. I-Impossible….. He dropped to his knees with tears in his eyes. How could I….lose?

"Your existence is a mystery to me, faceless guy!" Houseki called out. "But regardless of who you are, I'm going to crush you! Everyone is powerless in front of Victory Dragon, no matter who they are! Victory Dragon, attack his Ally of Justice - Field Marshall! Victory Flame!"

Soutou threw his arms up to defend himself as Victory Dragon launched a massive fireball at Field Marshall. The strike nearly knocked him off of his feet. Soutou screamed as he felt electricity surge through his body. It was more then he had ever felt before. He slowly turned his head to look at his duel disk. Victory Dragon's effect was coming into play. His life points were slowly reducing themselves to 0. The lower they got, the higher the electric voltage.

Soutou's Life Points: 600

Houseki's Life Points: 200

Houseki turned his back to Soutou and began waving to the crowd, which was in an uproar over his final move. Soutou turned his head to see him. Houseki was a few feet in front of him, flailing his arms in the air victoriously. Soutou began taking slow, labored steps towards him.

"That's right! I'm the strong and rich Houseki-sama! I am king of underground duels! I rule this hell with an iron fist! All who stand in my way will die, face or no face! They will all be confronted with death!"

Soutou slowly reached his hands forward. He tried to clench them shut, but he couldn't move them anymore then he already was. He placed them on Houseki's back. Several members of the crowd jumped in shock as Houseki began twitching and screaming. Soutou grinned slightly as he heard Houseki cry out in pain.

"Let….go!" Houseki managed to yell out. Soutou didn't answer him. Houseki's eyes moved down to Soutou's life point counter.

200.….

100.…..

0.…

It looked like a streak of lightning had broken through the ceiling and struck the two duelists. Their eyes went white and their mouths hung agape as the electricity coursed through their bodies. They shook and spasmed as the intense power flowed through them. After a minute the electricity stopped. The crowd was silent.

Soutou and Houseki slowly dropped to the ground unconscious. Houseki's manager threw open the cage door and ran to his side.

There were more screams as the front door was kicked in. "POLICE, NOBODY MOVE!" echoed throughout the entire building. People began screaming and running as detectives flooded the building. Tables were knocked over, items were thrown, people were knocked over.

Houseki's manager already had Houseki over his shoulder and was out the backdoor by the time detectives had even come close to the cage. Soutou wobbled to his feet and began stumbling towards the exit. He almost fell over once he got out of the gate. All he could think of, all he could focus on, was the back door Houseki had been carried out of.

So close… I'm so close… He faintly thought. Just have to beat his manager and Victory Dragon is mine… The room was filled with noise, but everything was silent to Soutou. All he could hear was the faint thumping of his heart. He crashed into the doorway, causing the door to break off its hinges. He faintly heard the thudding of boots behind him.

Soutou used almost the last of his energy to pull himself back to his feet. He lazily dropped a hand on the door handle, twisted it open, and fell face first into the alleyway.

Koto slowly approached the body laying in the doorway. His heart raced as he put a hand on the person's neck. "Faint, but its there…." He mumbled to himself. He carefully flipped them over. He was surprised by the mask that covered their face. It had a large chunk of it missing near the chin. Koto went to remove it when he noticed the metal plating on their arm. A part of it on the shoulder seemed to have taken a hit as well.

"Wait a minute…." Koto imagined the metal arm punching through Touzoku's duel disk and crashing into his ribcage. "Its definitely possible… after all, the only way it could have happened was with a stabbing motion. I'll have to take it in for analysis. But first…."

Koto loosened the strap on the back of the person's head and gently pulled the mask off. His face went pale when he saw the face underneath. "S-Soutou….." He mumbled quietly. It felt like all the air had left his lungs. Koto felt like his legs and arms were numb, awkward attachments to his body. He wanted to believe that it wasn't possible, that it wasn't him, it was just someone who looked like him. But he knew in the back of his mind that this was without a doubt his little brother.

"Soutou…..SOUTOU!" Koto yelled. Soutou's eyes slowly opened. "K-Koto…?" He mumbled. Koto grabbed him by his shirt and pulled his face close to his. "What the hell are you doing out here! Running around like some sort of hero, are you insane!"

Soutou slowly lifted a hand and pointed into the alley. "His name…..Houseki….escaped down there….Victory Dragon, Koto. He has it… I was so close, I almost…" Koto could tell that Soutou was starting to fade back into unconsciousness.

"So this is it then, is it Soutou?" Koto asked with tears in his eyes. "THIS IS HOW FAR YOUR JUSTICE TAKES YOU? YOU CROSSED THE LINE A LONG TIME AGO!" He yelled. "This isn't justice anymore Soutou, this is insanity! Your justice… it's taken you to the bottom of hell! How could you do something like this!"

"Just wanted….to help him…." Soutou mumbled. "HELP!" Koto screamed, infuriated. "YOU KILLED A MAN SOUTOU! YOU KILLED HIM! HE'S DEAD NOW!" Koto pulled Soutou's face closer, tears streaming down his face. "I ASKED YOU TO KEEP ME IN THE LOOP! TO CALM DOWN! I THOUGHT WE WERE A TEAM, DAMNIT! AND NOW YOU TURN YOUR BACK ON ME AND STOOP TO THEIR LEVEL!"

Koto roughly released Soutou's shirt. "I…..need…..justice…." Soutou mumbled. Koto pulled out a walkie talkie. "This is Koto Kougi, I've just apprehended a murder suspect with involvement in the recent underground death match. Suspect is in critical condition, I need some paramedics stat."

Koto looked down at Soutou, tears still in his eyes. He felt hundreds and hundreds of memories churning inside of him as he stared down at his calm face.

"Koto, arent you supposed to be the older brother! How can you let Soutou outdo you in sports and your stuides!"

"It's not that big of a deal." Koto heard in his head. After all, I'll always be taller then him at least!

Koto heard these things repeat themselves over and over inside of his head.

"Koto, is Soutou really leaving the university! I thought that he was about to enter into the Cabinet as a detective!"

"What can I say? The guy thinks that he can do more good as a lawyer. He got into a top-class university, so I aint complaining. But still, can you believe him? We were gonna be a team once we got out of school. I'm telling you, he's obsessed with tossing guys in jail.

Koto wiped his eyes. The voices just wouldn't stop.

"You were impersonating a health inspector! If it weren't for me, and your court record you'd be doing time for that right now! If you had come to me, I could have gotten a warrant, and officially taken the stuff into custody so that you could use it in your court case. It doesn't work when you get the stuff yourself and then bring it to me. You've been taking the law into your own hands lately, and its starting to scare me. I need you to settle down, and relax, even if you don't trust the system as much as you used to. I need you to trust me, and trust that everything will work out, ok?"

He couldn't restrain himself anymore. He lifted his unconscious brother and hugged him as hard as he could, tears streaming down his eyes. He heard sirens and the sound of footsteps coming towards him.

"Soutou, from this day forward…. Were no longer brothers…."

-I believe that the wikia once again has an incorrect effect for Thousand Punisher. Since it doesnt affect the duels outcome though, I'm not too worried about it.

-While writing the duel between Houseki and Soutou, I came to a lot of points where there was a lot of couldves, and shouldves, and wouldves. But when I assessed them based on everything that happened later, I realized that they all would have ended with Soutou losing earlier . Im pretty sure they all were "If Soutou had done this" situations, so if you come across any that I might not have played out in my head, feel free to post them and I'll tell ya whats up.

-I know Im going to get someone who's going to say "Hey, Soutou is a lawyer! Whats he doing going kung fu on everyones ass?" It was just a small snippet, but Koto's flashbacks show that Soutou did infact have training (this includes combat) to become a detective, but dropped out to be a lawyer instead.

-Houseki's deck is meant to be very greedy and focused on beatdown. I chose the gem dragons as his theme because I want to portray him as a person who truly is obsessed with power and money. I think his draw cards symbolize that message aswell.

-Not much of a fan of next chapter previews... I'm just not that good at them XD. I'll leave it a mystery from now on so that nobody'll see any of the twists and turns coming.

This chapter's custom cards

Hot Coals

[Normal Spell]

Discard a number of pyro type monsters from your hand to the graveyard to send an equal number of pyro type monsters from your deck to the graveyard.

Equal Opportunity

[Normal Trap]

Activate this card during the end phase of your opponents turn. Special summon a number of level 4 or lower monsters from your deck equal to the number of monsters special summoned by your opponent this turn. Monsters summoned by this card cannot activate any effects, and cannot attack during your next turn.

Inescapable Refinement

[Continuous Spell]

Return all monsters that are removed from play to the graveyard. Monster's in the graveyard cannot be removed from play, or special summoned.

Ally of Justice - Light Reflector

Dark/Machine/Level 1/Attack: 100/Defense: 1700/Tuner/Effect

When this monster is used for the synchro summon of an "Ally of Justice" monster, you can remove this monster in the graveyard from the game to make all monsters on the field and in the graveyard light attribute monsters until your next standbye phase. Monsters that are special summoned are not affected by this effect.

Light Law - Equality

[Continuous Spell]

As long as this card remains face up on the field, all monsters on the field and in the graveyard are treated as being light-type monsters.

Topaz Dragon

Wind/Dragon/Level 4/Attack: 1800/Defense: 1200/Effect

When this monster is removed from the field, select 1 level 4 or lower normal dragon type monster and add it to your hand. Your deck is then shuffled.

Continuance

[Quick-Play Spell]

Activate this card only when you receive battle damage. End the current battle phase, and select 1 face up monster on the opponents side of the field. That monster cannot attack during the battle phase until the 2nd battle phase after you activate this card.

Criminal's Accomplice

[Quick-Play Spell]

When you destroy an opponents monster, you can activate this card. If your opponent has another face up monster on their side of the field, the monster which destroyed an opponents monster can attack that monster.

Phantom Flyer

Wind/Dragon/Level 4/Attack: 1400/Defense: 1000/Effect

When you control no monsters and your opponent controls 2, you can special summon this monster. When this monster is selected as an attack target, you can remove it from the game until your next standbye phase.

Ally of Justice - Field Enforcer

Dark/Machine/Level 2/Attack: 0/Defense: 0/Effect

When you synchro summon a synchro monster with "Ally of Justice" in its name, you can special summon this card from your hand. When this monster attacks an opponents monster, by returning this monster to your hand, you can flip that monster into face down defense position. When this monster is discarded from your hand to the graveyard, special summon it in face up defense position.

Empty Nesting Grounds

[Normal Trap]

When a level 5 or higher Dragon or Winged Beast type monster is destroyed, select and activate one of the following effects

- Level 5-6: Special summon 1 "Egg Token (Level 1/Attribute: ?/Type: ?/Attack: 500/Defense: 500) to your side of the field with the same type and attribute as the destroyed monster.

- level 7-8: Special summon 2 "Egg Token(s) (Level 1/Attribute: ?/Type: ?/Attack: 500/Defense: 500) to your side of the field with the same type and attribute as the destroyed monster. Monsters on your side of the field cannot be destroyed as a result of battle this turn


End file.
